Heroes of Skyrim
by Demo ODST
Summary: Most, when speaking of the tale of the Dragon Born, would say he was the driving force of every major event in Skyrim during his time. Most would be wrong in that. The Dragon Born, after all, is only a man. A powerful man, yes, but only one man. This... This is a more accurate version of the tale
1. Forging Fires

_**Before yall read, one thing for yall to know. this story will include Mod characters. at this time, 3-4 of them, as well as some story ideas from a few other mods. i aim to faithfully capture those characters alongside the canon characters and the OC's in a way that promotes these awesome works, and still write a engaging and entertaining cast for yall to read. if you would like to know hich characters are from Mods, and where some of the story mods and such appear, PM me, i'll point em your way. if you happen to be the owner of one of the mods that appears in here, and are somehow pissed off/peeved/mildly annoyed/or concerned in any way shape or form of my use of them... again, PM me. beyond that, i hope yall enjoy this story, i've wanted to write a skyrim centric fic for the longest of times, and simply could never find a story i actually wanted to tell. **_

* * *

Crisp cold wind blew against the boy's face, the small flakes of snow brought with it melting as soon as it touched his bare skin. Several shivers were sent down his body from where he was sitting. Not one of the them was from the cold. The wagon he sat on rocked back and forth down a winding mountain trail, the boy watching as the walls of a small village drew ever closer. Each gentle clop of the horse's hoofs, each clink of mail and steel, all sent a stabbing pain through his chest.

_I really screwed up… I should have never tried to steel that horse!_ He let out a sigh as his eyes dropped to the wooden floor of the wagon, his bound hands now immediately in front of his face, along with the several other pairs of boots around him.

Unlike him, the others in the cart were all decked out in full chain mail, the sheaths and loops for various weapons still in place even, compared to the boys ragged threadbare tunic. Each one was a soldier of the Stormcloak army. Each one had woken up that morning knowing they could die today. As rebels, that was merely part of their life now.

"You there, boy. Where are you from?" one of the rebels suddenly spoke up, his green eyes fixed to the boy.

"A small village, north of Bruma. Doesn't exist anymore." He responded as curtly and politely as he could manage, given the situation. The next few minutes could very well be his last after all.

"Ah. Thought you had the look of an imperial about you. Family?"

"No."

"Sad. A man's last thoughts should be of hearth and kin." The man's eyes dropped away from the boy as he continued, almost too quietly to be heard over the armor and horses. "If only you hadn't been caught in the ambush meant for us. You would not be on this wagon if it was not for such poor timing. For that, I am sorry." As he finished, he brought his eyes back to the boy's.

The man beside the speaker seemed to be following the conversation, the fine furs over top his armor marking him as a man of some measure. Oddly though, he was the only man to have been muzzled by the imperials. The boy could see the sadness in his eyes as he solemnly nodded his way. The other Stormcloaks all matched his small and simple gesture, it sending a single shudder of fear through the boy.

"Quiet back there! It's the end of the line for you rats!" the wagon driver called that out as they approached the village's gate. A fair number of people had gathered at the edges of the road to watch the wagon's roll toward the center of the village, where a small keep was.

As soon as they arrived there, they were told to get off the wagons were the several dozen prisoners all fell into lines, the boy at the back of one, right behind the Stormcloak that had spoken earlier. The Imperial soldiers at the heads of the lines were calling off names one at a time, the prisoner moving off to a new line forming beyond them.

"The empire and their damned lists…" the Stormcloak ahead of the boy muttered that under his breath, almost too quiet to be heard over the shouted names and the slowly gathering crowd's shouting.

"Ralof of Riverwood!"

The Stormcloak let out a small sigh before slipped out of the line, leaving no one but the boy from his wagon. Slowly, one by one, the other lines completely emptied, leaving the boy as the only one standing there.

"You there, boy, what's your name?" the Imperial with the list from his wagon calmly spoke toward him, none of the anger and malice in it that many of the other soldiers were displaying toward their captives.

"Maximus." The boy spoke up just loud enough to be heard, a small spark of hope appearing in his mind.

"Maximus….?" The Soldier drew out the name for several moments, glancing between the boy and the list.

"I don't have a last name. Not one worth mentioning anyway."

"Alright, well, I don't see you on the list s-"

"Hadvar! What's the hold up!?" a female soldier in full imperial armor strode over from the mass of Stormcloaks, visibly irked that the boy was still standing there.

"He's not on the list ma-am."

"To hell with the list! To the block prisoner!" she shouted that at Maximus, pointing off at the others before striding off.

"I'm sorry boy. I'll make sure your remains are returned to Cyrodil."

Maximus shared a small nod with the soldier before walking to the group waiting to be executed, the little spark of hope he had felt completely gone. One by one, Stormcloaks were called forward to the headsmen, a meaty thunk marking the end of their lives.

"Next, the Renegade from Cyrodil!" he gulped as he was dragged forward, just over a dozen of the rebels left standing behind him. There were several crude crates containing severed heads lined up behind the small wooden chopping block, a wagon already being filled with corpses. Blood soaked the earth under the block in enormous quantities.

When he reached the block, he didn't give the soldiers the pleasure of shoving him down, dropping to his knees and letting himself slump into place. None of the soldiers said anything about it, likely just relieved they didn't have to struggle this time. The headsman shook his head at the boy, his face covered by the traditional veil most headsmen wore.

After the small gesture, he raised the blood coated axe high over his head, preparing to bring it down on Max.

Max closed his eyes, taking a deep shuddering breath. _This is it. The end. Well… at least I get to see my family once more._

There was a sudden echoing roar, like nothing Max had ever heard before. It was unbearably loud, likely the loudest thing he had ever heard, and no animal could have produced the same tones. His eyes snapped open to find the headsmen dropping the axe to his side, his eyes scanning the sky.

"What in the eight divines was that!?" someone shouted that, his deep and authoritative voice somehow familiar. "Sentries, do you see anything!?"

"No sir!"

"Fine. Headsmen, continue!"

The headsmen nodded, raising the axe once more. Before he fully raised it though, a massive black winged shape ripped out of the clouds, slamming down on top of the keep tower with enough force that stones were cast away from it, several people screaming. Those screams were cut off by a second, almost _linguistic_ sounding roar, this one so loud that the air cracked from the sheer force of it.

Max was knocked off the block, seeing the headsman tumble to the ground. The sky had suddenly darkened, a swirling cloud spitting lightening and fireballs out of it like drops of rain.

"D-DRAGON!" someone shouted that, Max's eyes fixed to the creature now. It let out another vocal like roar, a column of fire ripping out of it's maw.

"Come on boy! On your feet if you want to live!" the Stormcloak from his Wagon, Ralof, grabbed Max's upper arm and shoved him to his feet, pushing him toward one of the watch towers. There were several other Stormcloaks in the open doorway, gesturing the pair toward them.

Max ran as fast as he could, his bound hands preventing him from pumping his arms like he normally would. Ralof was almost immediately ahead of him, having somehow gotten his bindings off already. As soon as Max was inside, one of the Stormcloaks slammed the door shut.

"Where in the hell did a Dragon come from!? They should only be myths!" one of the Stormcloaks was visible shaking, his chainmail accenting the movement.

"Calm yourself lad. Ralof, find us a way out of town." The man now speaking was the one who had been muffled earlier, his clothes now nearly black.

"I'm on it, Jarl Ulfric. Boy, this way, with me!" he grabbed Max's tunic before sprinting up the spiraling stairs lining the outer edge of the tower, almost dragging Max with him. They barely made it up a flight of steps when the wall of the tower was burst inward, the dragons muzzle sticking into the tower. It let out another roar, flame jetting into the tower and nearly roasting Max alive. One of the Stormcloaks above them on the stairs was not so lucky. A moment later, the dragon was gone, Ralof dragging him further up the tower.

"Jump boy!" he pushed Max toward the hole in the tower, Max panicking.

Max barely got enough time to see a half on fire two story house just a little lower than him, using the momentum Ralof gave him to try and launch himself toward it. He smashed through the thatched roof, crumpling to the floor of the second story in the building. Most of his body was in pain from the rough landing, but he forced himself back to his feet, keeping his head low and out of the smoke as he rushed down the stairs and out the door.

Outside was nothing but carnage. Half the village was already leveled, there were arrows flying up into the air, and what wasn't smashed was actively on fire. The smell of flesh burning was mixing with the acrid smoke, burning at his nose. Screams seemed to emanate from everywhere at once, Max able to see more corpses than he could people. In a panic he began running for the keep, the one building that seemed relatively intact. He ran by several imperial soldiers, most of them having scooped up bows that they were firing off into the air, fruitlessly trying to bring down the beast above. He paid them no head though as he ran, aiming for one of the doors to the keep. There was a soldier there ushering a few townsfolk inside, Max recognizing him as the one who had taken his name down earlier. He continued his mad sprint toward him.

As Max slipped through the doorway, there was a tremendous crash, his head snapping back to see the dragon slamming to the ground behind him, its silvery white eyes focused on him. The soldier was slamming the keep door shut behind Max, max throwing his shoulder against the other portion of the double doors, slamming them shut alongside the soldier. And just in time, as bright red light slammed into the doors, heat bleeding through the wrought iron as they struggled to keep the doors closed. After a moment, the fire blast died off, the doors remaining closed as Max slumped to the ground, panting and sweating in equal measure.

"Thanks boy. We'd all be dead right now if it weren't for that." The soldier spoke as he offered Max a hand up.

Max shuddered as he accepted the hand up, his gut lurching slightly when he heard the knife slip from its sheath. A quick tug and flash of steel sliced the bindings on his hands apart before he could react, the soldier slipping the small knife away.

"There. Should be easier to move now. If you can fight, grab a blade. The dragon's fire most certainly sealed that door, so we'll have to find another way out."

Max nodded, moving over to a rack on the wall where a blade was hanging still in its scabbard. He quickly scooped the weapon up, stuffing the scabbard through his belt before moving to the small group of imperial troops further into the long barracks hall. He took a deep breath as he drew the slim blade, it singing from its scabbard in a way that was all too familiar to him.

* * *

"They're executin' a whole bunch of rebels in the town square!" someone shouted that in the tavern, most of the tavern falling silent. A good majority of the patron's in the tavern rushed out of the door, murmurs and mumbles rippling through them.

_Damned idiots. Who cares 'bout an execution…_ he glanced at his nearly empty mug, frowning. _'Specially when there's still mead to be drunk!_

"Eh, barkeep, pour me another one would ye?" he banged his mug on the counter as he spoke, blearily watching the barkeep make his way over to him, emptying the last of the mead bottle into his mug.

"Sorry Jorge, that's the last I got of the Black Briar stuff."

Jorge merely humphed at him, drinking half the mug in a single swig. The mead, though it had the burning tang of any alcohol, had a strong honeyed flavor to it that made every drink of the stuff as pleasing to the palette as it was intoxicating. So he happily chugged the last of the mug, feeling at least a little dribble down his cheek. He quickly wiped it off, slamming the ceramic mug back down on the counter once more.

"W'at else ye got?"

"Damn Jorge, if you were anyone else, I'd say you'd had enough! You've downed four bottles in the last hour alone!" the barkeep was shaking his head, quickly gesturing at one of the casks behind him. Whatever he opened his mouth to say though was lost to an almighty bang, Jorge getting a split moment image of the tavern's roof caving in before his vision went black.

What felt like only moments later, Jorge's vision came back to him as he stared up at a strange swirling black sky, bolts of lightning and flaming rock falling and flashing at random. Each created an almighty bang that rocked every one of his senses.

"Ah hell, w'at's goin' on 'ere!" he sat up, dust and bits of debris cascading off him. One glance at the ceramic handle in his hand told him the mug was shattered and gone, along with the little bit of mead that had been in it. He shrugged though, figuring, all things considered, the state of the flattened tavern meant his day drinking came at zero cost to him. He shambled to his feet, seeing a bottle of local mead not shattered behind the ruined counter, scooping it up. The barkeep was crushed under the cask he had been gesturing at before the tavern had been flattened, his blood slowly mixing with the ale draining from the cask.

"Huh. Bad day to own the tavern, ey keep!?" he chuckled at his own crude joke, dropping a few coins by the corpse before staggering out of the ruins. The town was a flurry of crazed motion, archers firing wildly into the sky, villagers running for the keep, spell caster's adding their crazed attacks to the mix.

_Wait the sky? What in Sovngard would be up there?_ He let his eyes scan the sky again, seeing a massive winged lizard slam into a watch tower, breaking through the stone before it let out a roar, brilliant red flames blasting out the top of the tower and the windows.

"Well… that aint somt'in' ye see every day." He shrugged, staggering his way across the town as he took long swigs from the bottle he was carrying, emptying it by the time he entered the keep, ignoring the imperial soldier trying to hurry him entirely.

He gave the bottle an annoyed look before tossing it aside, it clunking across the stone floor. Moments after, he heard the doors slam closed, letting his eyes trace back to the door. An Imperial soldier and a boy were keeping the door closed, flame visibly spitting around the edges of the door, the room temperature skyrocketing. Once the flames died away from the door, the pair stopped pressing on it, the boy slumping to the floor. The boy was bound by rope, the solider with him helping him stand and cut the bindings.

He was dressed in a simple deep red tunic, but it was ragged and falling apart, a then belt being the only thing forcing it to cling to his body. Even his boots were weathered and traveled well beyond when most would have replaced them. His short black hair had bits of dust and rubble in it, but was otherwise well kept. Most of his facial features were quite boyish, though he did have a small amount scraggily hair growing from his chin.

From there, he stopped paying any attention to the boy, meandering toward the only other door in the small barracks room, tearing it open and shambling through. The other side was the base of the keeps tower, a pair of Stormcloak soldiers bickering back and forth inside.

"'Ello there boys!" he nodded at them, moving to head along his way when one of the Stormcloaks raised his weapon, rushing toward Jorge. Jorge merely caught the small war axe the man was swinging near the man's wrist, smashing his free elbow on the wrist to get the weapon out of his hand. With the weapon free, he spun it in his hand and swung it into the Stormcloaks side, hitting with enough force to rip right through the chainmail and embed the weapon into his opponent. The man let out a weak gurgling scream, blood sputtering from his mouth as he slumped to the floor.

"Now that wassnt a very nice way to say 'ello." Jorge spoke down to the man, hap hazardly pulling his own larger war axe off his hip.

The second Stormcloak was already about to be upon him, but that Stormcloak's blade was met with the resounding clash of steel, the boy who had helped close the door earlier catching the swing with a single-handed sword before redirecting the Stormcloak's blade to the ground. Before the Stormcloak could respond, the boy had kicked out the man's knee, ripped his blade away from the Stormcloak's blade, and plunged it through the Stormcloak's throat.

_Huh. Looks like a boy, fights like a man!_

The boy wrenched his blade free from man's throat, using part of the man's uniform to clean the blade of blood before sheathing it. He visibly shuddered but seemed oddly calm beyond that.

"Wot's your name boy?" Jorge dropped his weapon back into its loop as he spoke, completely ignoring the dying man still writhing at his feet.

"Max. Come on. Hadvar said there should be an escape tunnel down in the dungeons. You?" the boy spoke curtly before setting off toward the door on the far side of the chamber, not even keeping his eyes on him.

"Jorge my young friend!" Jorge followed him through the door, which lead into a long downward spiraling ramp. The roars and crashes of the dragon above could still be heard, the imperial soldiers that had been with them in the barracks rushing by. As the path leveled into a hallway, the roof suddenly came crashing down ahead of them, the soldiers that had rushed by disappearing in a cloud of dust and screams.

"Damn it! This way!" The imperial that had been helping close the door earlier jogged by Jorge, gesturing at a side door in the hallway with his sword.

Jorge merely shrugged and followed, the boy slipping through the door before him. Immediately on the other side were several Stormcloak soldiers, drawing weapons before they could think to try and reason with them.

The imperial immediately charged one, using his shield to batter the man into the wall, the boy rushing another and locking his blade under the Stormcloak's axe head, forcing both weapons up and clear. This left the Stormcloak in the middle to Jorge.

Jorge slipped his axe from its loop, letting out an enraged shout as he sprinted forward, the Stormcloak readying his two handed longsword for a thrust straight for Jorge's heart. Jorge merely batted the blade up and away with his fore arm, his hide bracer protecting him from the edge of the blade, clearing the man's guard enough to slam his axe into the man's throat. The tendons and flesh were snapped apart by the axe head, the body going limp and falling before he could wretch the weapon away.  
The Imperial soldier had also dispatched his opponent, having jammed his blade into the man's gut while he pressed him to the wall with his shield. The boy on the other hand, had managed to disarm his opponent, the two now struggling and grappling with each other. As Jorge watched, the boy got a hold of a dagger that had been in the Stormcloak's boot, jamming it up into the man's jaw and leaving it there.

As soon as the boy had recovered his blade, the trio continued, a second door leading them around the obstruction and out of the storeroom they had been fighting in. Within moments, they found a small dungeon with several dead imperial soldiers and Stormcloaks. They ignored the bodies as they followed the imperial soldier down past the cells, opening a door that led into a cavern. Ahead of them was a bridge that crossed an underground stream, the trio thudding across it. Moments later, a tremendous crash behind him drew Jorge's attention back to the small wooden bridge, now gone with sunlight streaming down from above.

"Well that was close." He smirked as he said that, about to turn away when a dark shape dropped down into the cavern, disappearing down past the lip of rock with a meaty thud. He jogged over to the lip and looked down to find a body lying amongst the rubble, seeing it shift with a groan.

"That looked painful there lad! Ye alright?" Jorge shouted that down at the person, inspecting him as he did so.  
The person was quite young, and of very small stature, though he did look old enough to be considered a man. Though he was covered in dust, he was wearing a dark green cloak, most of his clothes so covered in dust they were hard to see. He did, however, have a single-handed sword on his hip, and a long bow firmly in his hand.

"I'm alive." He spoke as he slowly rolled to his feet, pulling the cowl on his hood up the moment he was standing, making his messy hair and young features disappear in an instant.

"Aight, let's get ye outta there!" Jorge was about to drop onto his gut to try and help the lad up when the lad started to walk down stream.

"This stream crosses with the path you're on." He spoke curtly up to Jorge, not looking his way as he strode out of sight.

_He looks familiar somehow…_ Jorge shrugged before he turned to catch up with the others, continuing down the passage.

* * *

"Wi-illiam… C-come here…" His father's voice was barely audible over the screams and roar of the flames.

William's body trembled as he approached his father, seeing the piece of wood that had ripped through his chest, dark liquid dripping from the wound and from the corner of his father's mouth.

"Y-you nnneed to get out of here son! S-save yourself!"

"I'm not leaving you dad!" he reached for the wood impaling his father, his fingers just a hair's breadth away from grabbing it before his father's hand stopped his.

"You c-c-can't sav-ve me son. We would both die." He let out a series of wet, wheezing cough's, blood spattering from his mouth. "Take my sword. Take the cloak… you're a Ranger now son. D-Don't let me down." As he spoke, he unclasped the cloak from his neck, barely able to tug it out from under him before pressing it against William's chest.

"I can't! I don't know enough, I'm not ready dad!" he tried to push the cloak away, but his father's hand didn't budge at all.

"You are son. Just remember…" he coughed even more his hand falling away from William as he fell onto his back. His body shuddered several times before it fell eerily still, his eyes blankly staring at the tumultuous sky. It was a blank and lifeless stare that Will already knew quite well, despite his age.

He let out a shuddering sigh, closing his father's eyes before untying the sword sheath from his father's hip, tying it to the belt on his own hip. As soon as he was done, he slung the now blood-stained green cloak, clasping it into place and bringing the cowl up. It wasn't the first time he had worn the enchanted cloak, but knowing it was now his made the fabric immensely heavy to him in a way he could have never described with words. He gave his father's corpse one last look before he scooped up his longbow and jogged away, scanning the sky for the dragon as anger began to seethe beneath his skin.

As soon as he spotted the beast above, he flipped the cloak clear of the quiver hanging on his hip, slipping an arrow from it and immediately nocking it on the string, one finger above the arrow, two below as he drew the string back. The feather fletching on the bow tickled the corner of his mouth as he tracked the beast, following it with his eyes and the bow until he felt he had a good feel for its flight. As soon as he did, he loosed the arrow, watching the shaft leap away from the bow. A moment later, it intercepted the dragon, harmlessly reflecting off the scales and falling back toward the earth.

_How could anyone kill that thing!_ He wanted to curse aloud, looking back at the rubble his father's corpse was in before he took off running, his mind scrambling to think of a way out of the town. The three gates had been smashed and set alight by the dragon, the dragon seeming to be targeting anyone trying to leave the town. He did know there was an escape tunnel located under the keep, having once explored it as a boy, but the walls to the keep had also been smashed down, blocking access to it.

_Crap! Where in the name of nine can I go!?_ As he had that thought, a boulder cracked down from the sky, nearly smashing into him as it smashed into the ground. He was thrown off his feet, slamming down on his back. He painfully dragged himself to his feet, hearing a massive thud behind him. His head snapped around to find the dragon's white eyes just a few yards behind him, fixed to him. He panicked, running forward and falling into the crater the rock had created, only to find himself falling farther than he anticipated. He hit the ground nearly two stories down, crumpling on impact into a heap of pain, barely managing to not cry out. His entire body hurt as he rolled onto his back, tears slipping from his eyes.

"That looked painful there lad! Ye alright?" A bear of a Nord was standing in a passage above William, leaning out to look down at him. He was dressed in a mixture of iron plates held together with hide and lined in fur. He had one hand on an axe at his waist, his horned helmet hiding most of his features beyond his tanned skin and blonde beard.

"I'm alive." He groaned that out as he forced his aching body to his feet, pulling the cowl back onto his head. As he did so, he recognized where he was, in a natural underground stream that was used to keep clean water in the fort, and, having explored it in the past, he knew it crossed into the escape route downstream.

"Aight, let's get ye outta there!" the Nord shouted again, his words slightly slurred.

"This stream crosses with the path you're on." He curtly snapped that out, hoping it was loud enough for the Nord to hear him as he set off down the stream, his bow still firmly in his grasp. He didn't bother with checking if the Nord heard him. The path wound back and forth for a while before he began hearing voices echoing back to him down the passageway.

_"How do you even know if there is a way out of here! This could just be a dead end!"_ the shouted voice was barely understandable, William now naturally starting to be more selective of where he stepped, making virtually no noise as he moved.

_"Well, it's better than being out there with that dragon! Worst comes to worst, we'll sit down here for a few hours, then see if the dragon's gone. It's better than nothing!"_

William was now emerging into a larger chamber, seeing several figures illuminated by a torch they were carrying. By the blue tabards and chainmail, William recognized them as Stormcloak soldiers. A quick count told him there were at least seven of them, three with bows.

_Way too many to handle on my own. Maybe I can reason with them?_

"IMPERIALS!" one of the Stormcloaks shouted before William could step from the shadows, pointing to somewhere roughly behind William.

He was acting without any thought, whipping an arrow from his quiver, drawing the bow, and taking aim for one of the Stormcloak archers. He knew their chainmail would likely stop his broad headed hunting arrows, so he aimed for the woman's throat. As soon as he felt his aim was right, he released the arrow, having prepped, aimed and fired before any of the three archers could even reach their quivers. His arrow ripped into her throat, toppling her down. The two remaining archers watched their comrade fall, panicked expressions on their faces.

William was already reaching for his quiver, pulling another shaft out, just to find that it was nothing more than a broken shaft. Each arrow he pulled out after that was in similar un-fire able condition, the boy cursing as he rushed out of the stream's tunnel. His boots splashed water out before him, dropping the bow onto the bank of the stream as he made the short leap onto the path.

Three figures were already locked in a fight with the four melee fighters, William focusing on the two archers. One had loosed an arrow toward the melee, the other leveling his bow on William. He didn't get the chance to loose it, as Will had already drawn his blade, the training he had received already kicking in as he slashed at the archer. The blade snapped the wood of the bow as the tip of the blade slammed into the soldier's chainmail, the steel rings preventing the blade from biting into the man's chest. It did however knock the wind out of the man. He never got the chance to drop his ruined bow, as William yanked his blade back and immediately thrust it forward, the point managing to split the links apart and dig several inches into the archer's flesh. All that was needed to create a fatal blow.

The man dropped, screaming as William yanked the blade free, just in time to block a swing from the final archer, who had drawn a blade himself. William was forced to retreat as the Stormcloak continued his attack, repeatedly trying to snake his blade around to plunge it into William. He barely managed to keep the soldier's sword at bay, his back hitting a wall as he continued to try and backpedal. Before the Stormcloak could take advantage of that fact, the point of a blade ripped out of his throat, disappearing a moment later as the corpse fell to the side.

Behind the man was a boy, not much older than William, giving William a small curt nod. "You alright?"

"Yes." William replied as curtly as he could, his muscles trembling as he did his best to wipe the blood from his blade on the Stormcloak's tabard before sliding it away.

"Thanks for the help. I'm Max." the boy was holding his hand out to William, but William didn't accept it, moving off toward where he had dropped his bow instead. "It's normally polite to give someone your name when they give you theirs."

He ignored that too, inspecting his bow to make sure it was undamaged before slinging it across his back.

"That cloak looks pretty familiar there. Ye don't happen to be that Ranger's boy, are ye?" the voice now speaking earned a small glance, turning out to be the Nord that had spoken to him earlier.

William's only response was to stare back at him for a moment before moving to one of the dead archers, inspecting the pointed armor penetrating arrows before filling his empty quiver with them.

"Doesn't matter. Ranger, come with us. I can lead us to Riverwood. We have to warn them about that dragon anyway." The imperial among the three was speaking now, cleaning and sheathing his short sword before scooping up the torch from the fallen Stormcloaks. As soon as he had the light source, he strode off down the tunnel.

"Eh, so long as there's an inn there with plenty o' ale." The Nord shrugged, following after the imperial.

"Are you coming Ranger?" the older boy waited a moment for William, staring expectantly at him.

_Might as well. I've now where to go anyway._ William shrugged and let out a small sigh, stepping off behind the Nord as the boy followed him.


	2. The Imperial

Max couldn't get his mind to calm down as he shambled after Hadvar, each step aching more than the last. The sun was drooping below the horizon, but he could see the short stone wall of a village, lights showing lanterns lit in the quiet village.

"Thank the divine the dragon didn't burn it down too." Hadvar was audibly relieved, Max only wishing he could match his relief. His whole body ached though, barely able to keep his eye's open. The day had been exhausting, from running for his life, fighting for his life, and then marching for hours upon hours through the cold air. The only relief he had is that the temperature had risen as they moved down out of the mountains. Of course, that rise was short lived as night fall had brought the temperatures right back down.

"Ye can say that again Imperial. I need a pint!" Jorge shouted that out, suddenly speeding up as he marched off ahead of them. Not one of them tried to stop the massive man.

"Well, my uncle owns the local forge. You two can spend the night there. I'm sure he will help." He glanced at the two of them, a weak smile crossing his face.

Max glanced beside him only to realize the Ranger wasn't there, looking around for him until he spotted him. He was lagging behind by forty or so yards, having not said a word to any of them.

_Wonder why he's being so quiet?_ He let out a sigh as he let his attention return to Hadvar.

"That would be great." He quietly followed along behind Hadvar, just doing his best to keep up. As they approached the town, he could hear the steady banging of hammer on steel, a sound that could be heard in virtually any town in Tamriel. As they passed the gate, the glowing forge was immediately on their left, easily spotted as it was well lit with lanterns.

"Uncle Alvor!" Hadvar shouted as soon as he had crossed the gate.

"Hadvar!? What in the divine are you doing here?" the man working the forge immediately stopped what he was doing, rushing off the raised stone to meet them in the street.

"It's a long story. We should talk inside."

"Alright, and who's this?" Alvor was gesturing at him, glancing between Hadvar and Max.

"A friend. There's another too, he shouldn't be far behind…" Hadvar glanced off to his left as he spoke, at virtually the right moment as Ranger showed up just then, his cowl hiding his features in the dark night. "Ah, here he is. Anyway, let's get inside."

"Alright." Alvor led the way to the front of the house, opening the door for Hadvar and following him inside.

Max caught the door, looking back at Ranger to make sure he was following to see him slip his bow from his back, sitting down on the edge of the raised stone of the forge. Max let the door close, headed for Ranger.

"Hey, it's pretty cold out here. Let's get inside." He jerked his thumb at the door, trying to sound as friendly as he could.

"No. I'd rather stay out here." Ranger spoke just as curtly as he had been, not even glancing Max's way.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Well… okay I guess." Max shrugged before heading back to the door, slipping inside.

"Yes. A Dragon. I wish I was just going crazy. Helgan is nothing but a smoldering ruin by now." Hadvar was speaking from where he sat at a small dining table, his uncle sitting across from him.

"First this stupid war, now a dragon attack? This world is going to oblivion isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Someone needs to warn the Jarl of Whiterun. We certainly don't have enough guards here to deal with a dragon, and he needs to know."

"I can do that. Just need some supplies to make it there." Max spoke up as he stepped toward the table, not really even sure why he spoke up.

_It's just the right thing to do I guess._

"Do you think you could make it there alone?" Hadvar spoke calmly, his attention shifting to Max.

"I'll see if I can't get the Ranger out there to come with me. But even so, yes. I can make it. I could use a map and some supplies though." As he spoke, his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he still had yet to eat today. And between the smells in his nose and the food visibly on the table, his body was making him painfully aware of that.

"I'll get you some. Should be a little more than a days travel from here, north and down on the plains. It would be best to wait until morning to head out, so get some food in you two and get some sleep. You can use my bed. For the night."

Max nodded to Alvor before sitting down, a woman he could only assume was Hadvar's wife dropping a plate before him, a thick cut of salmon steaming on it. He quietly thanked her before digging into the meal, silence falling across the small home. Little was said between the group while or after they ate, Max finding his way to the bed they were letting him use, collapsing on it the moment he could.

* * *

Max jolted awake, reaching for where he left the blade by the bed as his body trembled. Images were flashing through his mind, ones he had no desire to see again, intertwining with his memories of the destruction of Helgan. He shook his head to clear those memories from his mind before he stood and stretched, having no desire to dwell on the past. The rest of the occupants of the house were silent, not one having stirred yet.

He quietly slipped his boots back on, making the bed he had been using to make sure he was leaving things tidy. Once done, he strapped the blade on his side once more and stepped outside. The sun had only just started brightening the sky, and as such, the night's chill dropped even deeper, as it always did just before dawn. There was a single guard in the street, Max sharing a small nod with the man as he let his eyes adjust to the dim light, and his body to the cold. As he looked around, he realized that the Ranger was still sitting almost exactly where he had been the night before.

_Has he slept at all? _He moved back over to Ranger, sitting down beside him on the stone.

"did you get any sleep last night?" he spoke in the same friendly manner he had before, trying to give the Ranger a warm smile.

"Doesn't matter." Ranger spoke curtly once more, not even twitching, his hands gripping the bow loosely resting on his lap.

"I'd say it matters. You can't function right without sleep." Max let out a small sigh as Ranger remained silent, continuing on his own. "Once the sun comes up, I'm heading for Whiterun to warn them of the dragon. Do you want to come with?"

"I'll come. They need to know about it." It was likely the longest thing Max had gotten Ranger to say so far, though it was as cold and emotionless as everything else.

_I can't really blame him though… Helgan was his home. And he just watched it burn to the ground._ Max flopped back onto the stone, letting out a soft groan in response to his still aching muscles. He took a deep breath in, the smell of dried blood assaulting his nose.

"Are you injured!?" Max snapped that out as he snapped up, the Ranger beside him not even twitching.

"No."

"You reek of bloo-"

"I know. Not mine."

"Well, maybe go wash up a little? It's not exactly a pleasant smell."

"Fair." He suddenly stood and strode away from the stone.

"Hey, I'm leaving just after dawn! Don't make me wait Ranger!"

"I won't." the Ranger snapped that over his shoulder before he disappeared into the dim morning.

Max shrugged before he headed inside to wait for the others to wake up so he could prep for the journey.

* * *

"Uggh, all this walking is annoying…" Max groaned that out as he tried to stretch as he walked, the small leather knapsack slung on his back painfully digging into his shoulders. His small stretch gave him only momentary respite from the pain at the small of his back, it returning the moment he let his arms drop.

Surprisingly, despite his comment, Ranger remained quiet as he walked along with Max, having continued his trend of saying less than the minimum for effective communication. Now that it was well into the day and bright out, Max could finally discern actual details about him beyond his green cloak and bow. He was wearing a dark grey, almost black heavy linen vest, made of a material called gambeson. It wasn't the prettiest or nicest material in the world, but it's layered design made it into suitable armor, even so far as being able to stop sword blows and arrow strikes, if only those of poorer quality. The vest extended down to his upper thighs, clasped into place with a belt around his waist carrying both his sword and his quiver of arrows. Carrying his arrows on his hip kept them out of the way of his cloak.

His sword, although fairly plain in design, was a one-handed cruciform arming sword, nearly short enough to be considered a short sword. The only piece on the weapon that showed any level of luxury was the wolf's head pommel, so well crafted that it looked almost as though it had been cast from a miniature wolf.

The rest of his outfit was as bland and oddly colorless, simple grey cotton pants and a long sleeve shirt under his vest, with nearly black brown leather vambraces and knee high riding boots. It was odd to see as most folk, the poor included, wanted to make their wardrobes as colorful as possible, so his drab contrast to the average person was almost shocking.

Though covered by his thick cowl, most of his features were adamantly boyish, but not distinctly like any of the races Max had met over the years. It likely would help considerably for him to take the cowl off for even a moment, but Max was too polite to even think of asking. The one feature he could clearly see was the boy's vibrant green eyes, almost glowing from out of the cowl.

"So…. How old are ya?" Max spoke without thinking, more simply wanting to not continue walking in silence. At least a conversation would keep his mind off his aching feet and back.

"Seventeen." Ranger curtly and quickly responded, his head slowly turning back and forth as he seemingly scanned the environment.

"Huh. I'm only twenty."

"You look younger." He immediately snarked that back, and if Max didn't know better, was meant to be taken sarcastically.

"Uh…. Thanks, I think? Mom always told me it's okay to look young now. Because then you will keep looking young later."

"Hmph." He sounded utterly unamused by Max's statement.

Max let out a small sigh, not really sure how to keep a conversation going with Ranger.

"What's an imperial doing this far north? Joining the Stormcloaks?" Ranger's sudden question startled Max, having come to expect the boy would never start the conversation.

"No." he let out a small sigh, his attention falling to the road as he kicked a loose cobble. "Lived north of Bruma for most of my young life. Family farm was burned to the ground when I was fourteen. Been on the road since. Seen Hammerfall, Elsywer, now I'm in Skyrim. Nothing better to do."

"Fair."

"You?"

"Lived in Helgan my whole life. Traveled to most of the southern holds and the surrounding lands."

"Oh… sorry to bring that up…"

"ehh." He kept his eyes scanning their surroundings.

"How are you doing about all… that?" Max rubbed the back of his head as he looked away, feeling like an idiot just for asking.

"Fine." Ranger's voice finally shifted slightly, cracking as he spoke.

_So, he is hurting. I wonder why he acts so cold to everyone then?_ Max let out a small sigh, trying to shake the thought out of his mind. As much as he would like to, he understood that he couldn't help everyone he met. He simply hated seeing people hurt, no matter how.

"We're not alone." Ranger's voice startled him, seeing the smaller boy suddenly stop, unslinging his bow and knocking an arrow.

"I'd put that bow down there boy. Wouldn't want anyone getting hurt now would we boys!" a harsh shouted voice brought Max's eyes forward, seeing a Nord walking out from behind bushes growing beside the path. He had a huge double-sided axe resting on his shoulder, ready to be swung on a moment's notice.

"There's three more. One behind that boulder to our front right, two behind us, either side of the road. Can't see them, don't know what weapons they could have." The Ranger was speaking calmly, his body seeming to not even twitch.

_Damn! How is he even determining that?_ Max flexed his fingers as he widened his stance, getting ready to rip his blade from its scabbard.

"Got a plan?"

"Maybe. Think you can handle the two behind us?" he spoke quietly once more.

"Sure."

"Now." Max expected a shout. As it was, he nearly missed the single word. In a heartbeat, the archer had raised, drawn, and loosed an arrow. The bandit though had ample warning because of the distance, and knowing Ranger had an arrow nocked, that he managed to sidestep it.

Max didn't watch anymore though as he ripped his sword clear of its scabbard, stepping back and pivoting around to watch the rear. Just as Ranger had predicted, there were two bandits stepping out from hiding places beside the road, visibly startled at him spinning around. One had a long-shafted Warhammer, the other a small club.

_That Warhammer is a bigger threat. Let's keep the element of surprise best we can._ Max sprinted forward, rapidly closing the distance between himself and the two bandits. The hammer totting bandit tried to make a huge counter swing to intercept Max and would have if Max hadn't stopped just out of the hammers range. His stop was only for a moment though, letting his momentum get him moving again as he thrusted his blade into the exposed bandit's chest.

He didn't get the time to yank the blade free though as the second bandit was already upon him, Max narrowly ducking the club swing aimed for his head. As he stood back up, he slammed his fist into man's jaw, his years spent on a farm and traveling having helped him maintain a fair level of strength, all of which he focused into that uppercut. It lifted the bigger Nord off his feet and sent him clattering to the ground, laying still there.

With the second bandit seemingly down for the count, he yanked his blade from the dying bandit and rushed back toward Ranger. The battle axe wielding bandit was stopped in his tracks, clutching an arrow shaft sticking from his leg. Another bandit had a large Kyte shield, several arrow's sticking from the shield already. His feet were covered in steel, protecting his shins from Ranger's arrows.

That was when the Ranger spun on the spot, his weapon generally aimed at Max. Max didn't slow or hesitate, his mind screaming to trust Ranger in that moment. It turned out a good instinct, as Ranger's arrow ripped by him, a scream being followed by a meaty thud behind him.

The shield bearer lowered the shield to swing a mace attack to find Max's sword point whipping by his shield, sliding smoothly into his throat with one well placed thrust. Once Max had ripped his blade free from the corpse, he looked back to Ranger, who fired one more arrow into the wounded bandit's chest, right where the man's heart should be. The bandit Max had punched a moment ago was just feet behind Ranger, an arrow protruding from nearly the same spot.

"Nice shot Ranger." He spoke as he cleaned his blade and stored it back in its sheath.

"Thanks for the save." Ranger simply nodded to him, the small respectful gesture feeling as though it meant volumes between the pair.

* * *

It was barely mid-morning on their second day of travel from Riverwood, and they were now securely on the central plains that made up the majority of Whiterun hold. In fact, they had just over a half mile to the walls of Whiterun. For the most part, Max had been unable to get Ranger to say much more than he had been. He proved to have been quite useful though, easily starting a fire and cooking a meal from a rabbit he had killed on the way. Combined with the herbs and rations they had brought and it had been a fairly tasty meal. They had taken shifts all night to keep watch, just in case any other bandits were in the area, but it was good to see him sleeping. That said, his tossing and turning was more frequent than his sleep.

It didn't take the pair very long to cross the final stretch of the way to Whiterun, finding a rundown and weathered gatehouse, not even manned anymore. The path beyond wound back on itself before reaching a second gatehouse. This one had a massive gate inside it, a single guard standing before it.

"Gate's closed, head back where ever you came!" the guard shouted that before they could even approach, his hand loosely on his weapon.

"We've come from Helgan and Riverwood with news of the Dragon attack!" Ranger shouted that back, the guard startling back for a moment.

"What!?"

"You heard him, we're survivors of the attack on Helgan. We were sent here by Alvor the Smith of Riverwood to bring word to the Jarl!" Max spoke with as much confidence as he could muster as he continued to march forward.

"I… we better let you through then, OPEN THE GATES!" he screamed that over the wall, Max able to hear the gate's locks being undone. As soon as the dual doored gate began swinging out, he strode forward and through the gate, shocked to find not a soul in sight. So he marched on through the shockingly empty streets, only seeing a few guards on the streets. The gate made a loud crashing sound as it was slammed shut, drawing Max's attention to it, only to realize that Ranger was no longer with him.

_What!? Where did he go!?_ He searched all around him for several moments before letting out a small sigh, shaking his head.

"Can't help it anyway…" he muttered that out before marching off into the city. It didn't take him long to make his way through the tightly packed homes, likely due to virtually no one being out and about. Surprisingly, no one was guarding the entrance to the palace, allowing Max to slip the huge door's open enough to step inside and close it behind him.

Once inside, he made his way up the tiered stairs, past two massive banquet tables, stopping just shy of the throne at the head of the room. There were several people surrounding the Jarl, all locked in a furious conversation. Except one. A dark elf had noticed Max approaching, blocking his path and drawing her blade.

"Who are you and what do you want!?" she snarled that out, her blade pointed for Max's throat.

"My name is Max, I've come from Riverwood with word on the attack in Helgan." He spoke as plainly and calmly as he could manage, though it likely didn't come off as such. He was having a hard time judging as he stared down the grooves on the blade.

"Calm yourself Irelith! Let the boy speak!" the Jarl shouted from his seat, not shifting position at all. His thunderous voice silenced those that had been bickering around him, the dark elf sheathing her blade and standing aside. "What news have you from Riverwood?"

"Alvor the smith is requesting aid in case of a dragon attack. Helgan was burned to the ground by one."

"Are you sure Helgan was destroyed by a Dragon?"

"Yes sir. I had a pretty good view of it from the headsmen's block. I'm not sure many people survived."

"Irelith, dispatch troops to Riverwood at once! Proventus-"

"If I may Jarl, why are we listening to this boy at all? This 'dragon' attack may be a ruse to lure us into the war! Jarl Siddgeir may even presume we are taking Ulfric's side and be planning to attack him! Besides, the boy himself just said he's a criminal!" a Redguard man dressed entirely in fine clothing spoke up from beside the Jarl.

"I will not stand idly by while my people are slaughtered! Despite what ever crimes he was charged with, this boy has sought us out to try and prevent another tragedy! I am inclined to believe him! Pay the lad some coin, and boy? If you want to do more for my people, go speak to my court wizard. He has need of someone to fetch something for him." The Jarl nearly shouted at his own man before shifting his attention back to Max.

"It would be my pleasure Jarl." Max immediately replied, the sound of being paid not once but twice seeming too good to be true.

"Here, fifty septims. Standard bounty pay. Farengar's workshop is in that alcove over there." Proventous spoke with a small hint of disgust while he shoved a coin purse into Max's hand.

Max thanked him none the less before turning and heading for the wizard's workshop, immediately spotting the man reading from what seemed like a dozen different texts.

"And who might you be?" the wizard didn't even look up from his books as he spoke.

"I was told you needed some one to fetch something for you?"

"Forgive me for saying, but you don't seem the type to be capable of fetching this particular item. And by 'fetch' I mean delve into an ancient Nordic ruin to retrieve a stone tablet that may or may not even be there." He set the book he was actively reading down, actually giving Max his attention.

"Hey, I survived a dragon attack? How bad can an old ruin be?"

"Wait, you actually saw a dragon!? And lived!?"

"Yeah. So what do you need me to retrieve?

"Oh… well, in that case, I need the Dragon Stone Tablet from Bleak Fall's Barrow. It's infested with Draugr and spiders, or so I've been told. Here. A sketch of what the Tablet _should_ look like. I've never seen it myself so this could be wrong." He slid a small piece of parchment to Max, Max only giving the sketch a quick glance.

"Consider it done. It may take me a few days of prep before I go in, so if I'm not back in two weeks, consider me dead."

"That's fair. Do try to be quick about it though. Who knows how long we have until the next dragon attack."

Max nodded in response before snatching the sketch off the table and marching for the exit, both excited and terrified at having work to his name.


	3. The Ranger

_**Alrighty, i did say there was gonna be characters from mods right? well say hello to the first one! (If you want to meet this character yourself, go to Nexus mods for PC or the mod section on Xbox One and search for 'Tails of Troubles' and/or M'rissi. it is a fantastic mod and one of the best i've ever found for a game, and fits really darned well into the vanilla game) hope yall enjoy! (i'll let yall know when i hit something that i get the idea from a mod or if a character is from a mod. there are quite a few i would recommend and may include just to spice things up!)**_

* * *

William watched the gate closing behind him with a small sigh. He admittedly felt fairly bad for simply abandoning Max, but at this point, he was already inside the walls of Whiterun. Max had no need for William's help, so William felt no real inclination to stay with him.

_The question is… where do I go from here?_ He let out a small sigh as he walked down the weathered and collapsing defenses and secondary gate house, simply letting his feet carry him down the path.

_Well… I could go find one of the other Rangers. Most of the holds have one or two. I think the closest is in Rorikstead… _It wouldn't have been the first time he had gone there. Most of the southern holds had been his backyard for his entire life. It had been several years since he had met any of the other Rangers, but he was confident he could find the one in Rorikstead. As far as getting there from Whiterun, the main westward road out of Whiterun ran straight to the town. The biggest hassle would be the good two day walk to get there.

As soon as he was on the westward road, he let his eyes begin to wander. His mind had drifted off into the events of Helgan just two days prior, as most of his time had been spent of late, when a small camp on the side of the road drew his attention. A camp in and of itself was not out of the ordinary. The Whiterun gate had been sealed when he and Max had approached it just a few minutes ago, so it was not unsurprising to have found someone camping on the side of the road. What was odd about them, was that it was three Thalmor and a bound Kajiit. Even though he was nearly thirty yards away, he could clearly smell blood, and not just fresh blood, but old dried blood as well. All of his instincts were screaming out that the smell was emanating from the Kajiit.

Curious, he diverged off the road toward them, one of the two armored soldiers in the group gesturing to the female mage of the group. Immediately, the trio snapped to their feet, both soldiers drawing their strange glass blades.

"Halt, come no further citizen! This is official Thalmor business!" the female leader snapped that out, William not heeding her command as he continued. "I said HALT!" a fireball flew from the woman's hand, slamming into the ground at William's feet.

He stopped and feigned curiosity as he stared at the blackened mark ahead of him, his heart racing. Now that he was much closer, he could easily see several open wounds on the Kajiit, her clothes ripped and bloodied.

_I gotta help her somehow…_ As crazy as it was, a ruse had already formed in his mind, merely hoping he could pull it off.

"Well, I saw that Kajiit ya got there, thought I would see if I could buy her off you! I need a serv-" he didn't get to finish his ploy, as another fireball slammed into the dirt.

"Begone, filth, this Kajiit is under the custody of the Aldmeri Dominion! Now leave this area at once!" the high elf was snarling at him, another fireball prepped.

_Well, they are certainly jumpy… I think talking is out of the question here… I could just do as they say and leave._ He glanced at the Kajiit with his thoughts, seeing the way her ears were pressed back on her skull, the slight quiver in her fur as her body trembled.

_No. No way I can leave her like this. Not even if it means fighting the whole Dominion._ He did his best to put on a confident smirk, already plotting out a plan for the coming fight based off the surrounding terrain. There were large boulders to his right, less than a dozen feet away. He could easily reach them before the two soldiers would be able to reach him, and it would provide him with ample cover from the mage's magic, forcing her to either deal with him up close, or give him all the time in the world to dispatch her guards.

"Well, last time I checked, you had no authority to order around a single person in Skyrim. Skyrim is, after all, an _Imperial_ holding. So I think I'll go where I please." He did his best to sound snarky and overconfident, surprised at how easy it was.

"I warned you…" she reared back, about to chuck the fireball in his direction.

William never gave her the chance for a clear shot though, launching to his right and amongst the boulders as he drew his blade. As much as he would prefer to use his bow, the Thalmor were simply going to be much too close for that. As soon as he was in relative cover, he spun on the spot, and just in time as one of the armored Thalmor rounded the boulder, aiming a vicious swing for William. He braced his shorter blade's tip with his hand, catching the heavy handed strike before forcing his hilt to the ground and angling the point toward the Thalmor. With the Thalmor glass blade digging into the steel of his own blade, it dragged the Thalmor's blade down. In the same dropping motion, he slammed his foot into the back of the Thalmor's knee, forcing the taller being down, and his chin straight into William's waiting sword point.

The Thalmor slumped over, the blade deep enough into the high elf's skull to have killed him instantly. In one deft motion, he kicked the corpse down, yanking his blade free and bringing it into a low guard. The second Thalmor skidded to a stop, visibly taking a second look at his fallen comrade, shock evident on his face.

William monopolized on that shock, rushing forward with a feinting jab toward the Thalmor's exposed face. The Thalmor immediately tried to parry the thrust, but struck nothing as a quick movement of his two handed grip popped his blade up and clear, swinging in a short arc around the other side and opening the Thalmor's throat with the tip of his blade in one swift cut. The Thalmor dropped to his knees, clutching at the wound fruitlessly as he tried to stem the flow of blood.

William though, dropped his blade completely, pulling the bow from his back and knocking an arrow. He held the bow in his right hand, despite normally wielding the bow in his left, as he stepped around the boulder, drawing the bow in the same motion. The Thalmor mage was startled by his sudden appearance, not reacting at all to the arrow leaping from his bow until it was burying itself into her shoulder.

She let out a scream, clutching the bleeding wound for a moment before her hand glowed with purple energy. A small flash at her hand caused a similarly colored dark portal to envelope her, cracking shut after it engulfed her.

_That literally could not have gone smoother…_ he let out a deep and relieved breath with that thought, slipping the bow back away before cleaning and retrieving his sword. As soon as he had his equipment back, he rushed over to where the Kajiit was lying on the ground.

He expected the Kajiit to be showing some sort of relief or gratitude, but instead, she was still utterly panicking, sputtering out several garbled phrases in her native tongue.

"Let's get some bandages on these wounds." He spoke as calmly as he could manage, pulling bandages from his small satchel.

"No! you must save the young one! The young one is in danger!" she tried to stop him from bandaging the visibly worst wound, an open and actively bleeding slice on her thigh.

"W-What!? Young one? What are you talking about?"

"Near Riverwood! S'ahara will be fine! S'ahara is resourceful, just save the young one!" she was still utterly panicking, trying to shove William's hands away.

"Stop. I'm treating you and taking you to Whiterun. When I'm done, I will go save the young one. But I am not wasting the chance to save someone's life while I have it. You can give me more details on the way." As soon as he finished speaking, he began wrapping the bandage over the bleeding wound, the cat letting out a faint hiss, but no longer struggling against him.

The expression on the Kajiit's face was one he could not find words to describe, as her fear mixed with hope and relief, all seeming to conflict and fight over which to be shown as he continued to treat the wounds within his abilities.

* * *

William let out a small sigh as he moved, his feet aching from spending the past few days walking. Thankfully, he had now reached Riverwood.

_Now how do I find this 'young one' though? I mean, I guess it's a young Kajiit, by itself, so… maybe it will be easier than I suspect._ He let out a sigh as his eyes drifted up and down the single cobbled street the riverside village was built on, seeing a handful of people moving back and forth in the dying light of the day. The first building on his left after entering the village walls was the inn, William figuring it was a good starting place. Having visited Riverwood several times with his father, he knew the inn keeper by name.

His feet carried him up the stone steps to the building, swinging the door open the moment he reached it. Inside was an explosive cacophony of noise, centered around one shockingly familiar Nord screaming '_Ragnar the Red_' at the absolute top of the massive man's lungs. William did his best to avoid the awful noise as he shook his head, cutting left and weaving through the many evening inhabitants of the establishment on his way toward the bar.

"William!? Is that you?" a clear and strong female voice rang out from behind the bar, an older blonde Nordic woman staring at him in mild shock.

William merely finished approaching the bar, leaning on it as he calmly nodded to her.

"Wow… I'm glad to see you alive. I heard about Helgan and… well, not many seem to have survived." She visibly glanced up and down him, a grimace forming on her face. "I'm guessing by the cloak and blade that your father didn't make it?"

"No, Delphine. He didn't." no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop a single tear from trickling out of his eye, dashing it away as soon as it came.

"I'm sorry. If there's anything you need, just say the word. Your father was a great friend." Her voice was genuinely remorseful, a strong frown crossing her face.

"Actually, there is. I'm looking for someone. Don't have much in the way of a description. Just young and Kajiit." William tried to keep himself as calm as he could, but it was nothing more than him forcing it. He had more than once helped his father with his father's jobs but being the one to do it himself felt wrong to him. And all it did was bring up memories of his father.

"You're looking for someone? Is it someone your father knew or…" her brow was furrowed as she leaned on the counter herself.

"No. nothing like that. I encountered an injured Kajiit over by Whiterun a day or so ago. She demanded I find this 'young one', insisting they were in danger."

"Are you sure you are up to this sort of thing kid?" her body visibly slackened, her voice softening to a point that it was nearly lost in the din of the tavern. "I mean, you just lost your father, trying to take up his job so quickly… it's reckless."

"I'm up for it. Greif and tears never saved anyone." As much as he did believe in the words his father had said to him several times over the years, simply repeating them made tears want to spring forth from his own eyes.

She let out a quiet sigh, a gentle smile crossing her face. "Your father did love saying that. Just don't overdo it kid. And I might be able to help you. I… struggle to call her a Kajiit but, there's a girl, fairly young by my guess, who's been hanging around the back of the tavern. I've been setting scraps out for her. She's never said anything to me though."

_What did she mean by 'struggle to call her a Kajiit'? Kajiit are pretty easy to recognize._

"And to warn you, she's… a strange one. I am certain she's a Kajiit, at least in part. So maybe you're looking for her." Delphine shrugged, her eyes bouncing between William's.

"Thanks. I'll see if I can find her. If you hear anything else-"

"You'll be the first to know kid."

William turned to walk away as soon as she finished speaking but was forced to look back at her as she continued.

"And William? I think you will make a great Ranger. It doesn't bring your father back, but I know he's already very proud of you right now." She was smiling warmly, no longer leaning on the counter.

"Thank you, Delphine." Several tears slipped out of their own accord from her small statement, William wiping them away before he turned back for the exit.

Once he was outside, he made his way around to the back of the building, frowning as the light of the day was beginning to fade. Once more, as the wind shifted, he suddenly got a nearly overpowering blast of the smell of blood, nearly falling flat on his face from the suddenness of it. He readied an arrow on his bow as he followed the smell into the trees behind the inn, his ears quickly picking up the sounds of voices.

"Can I just gut this… _thing_? It already killed Hroth and that hound we bought to find it. Who's to say it won't try to kill us before we can turn it in?"

"We won't get paid if it's dead! Just keep your blade on it! Where the hell did Hroth put the rope!?"

William slowly crept through the trees toward the voices, the fading light making his sight worse and worse. The smell of blood was almost overpowering as he slipped around brush into a small clearing, finding a pair of Nord's standing near the center of it. One was pointing a blade down at something obscured in the low brush. The other was digging through a pack, just feet from a pair of fresh corpses, a dog and a third armed Nord. Neither of the two bounty hunters had noticed William yet, so he slowly crept closer, seeing a pair of reflective green eyes where the blade was being pointed. Those eyes belonged to a form he couldn't really recognize in the fading light, but he could make out its distinctive cat like ears and humanoid figure, cowering before the two bounty hunters.

The green eyes locked with William's for a moment before a new voice rang out. "No! Go away! She doesn't want anyone else hurt!" there was no doubt she was a female by her pitched voice, it cracking a little in fear. He was no judge of vocal patterns, but even his ears could tell she was also very young, likely years younger than himself.

_Definitely a Kajiit… no other race has that sort of accent._

"For the love of Talos…. Shut that thing up! It keeps shouting like that and it's gonna draw someone's attention!" the bounty hunter digging through the pack harshly whispered that at his partner, the partner never taking his eyes from the Kajiit.

"How!? I don't having anything to muzzle it with!"

"Cut it's tongue out if you have too! It just needs to be alive."

"If either of you lay a finger on her, you'll be dead men." William spoke coldly and evenly, using the sound of his voice to mask the sound of him drawing the string back on his bow, his arrow focused on the kneeling Nord.

"Who the fuck are you!? Get out of here before I gut you like a fish! This doesn't concern you!" the kneeling man shot to his feet, ripping an axe from his belt line and gesturing the weapon at William.

"I'm going to give you one more warning. Leave. Her. Alone." William let all of the feelings of despair, sadness, and frustration he had been doing his best to keep hidden for the past few days turn into a burning anger, saturating his voice in it as a small snarl developed on his upper lip.

"Just kill him Dengir, we don't have time for this!" the second bounty hunter took his eyes off the Kajiit for only a moment, but she suddenly leapt off the ground, a violent hiss ripping from her throat. The bounty hunter's attention returned to her just as she barreled into him.

William didn't hesitate even a moment, loosing his arrow the moment the Kajiit had moved. It ripped clean through the Nord's throat at this range, disappearing off into the forest as he fell, clutching at the blood gushing from the wound. As soon as the arrow had been clear of the bow, William had slipped another arrow from his quiver, sliding it on the string and drawing back to aim at the struggling Kajiit and her opponent.

The bounty hunter had lost his sword when she pounced him, several bloody streaks on his skin marking points where she had managed to swipe him with her claws. That said, he had managed to throw her to the ground and was now on top of her, pressing a knife down toward her throat. She simply didn't have the strength to stop him, the knife being redirected into one of her arms. She let out a night cleaving yowl as the blade plunged down to its hilt in her upper arm, just as William got his aim on the bounty hunter. The man got no warning of the arrow, it ripping into his shoulder and piercing his heart from above. He screamed as he recoiled back, grabbing at the shaft for a moment before falling back to the ground, dead.

The Kajiit was still whimpering quietly as William lowered the bow, inching toward her. "Are you al-"

He didn't get to finish his question as her eyes snapped to him, getting a brief glance of her face before she shot to her feet, the knife still lodged in her arm as she sprinted off into the forest.

"-right… damn it… I just wanted to help you…" he spoke softly to himself as his shoulder's drooped.

_She did look quite strange. Her face looked almost human in many ways… just covered in fur._ He shrugged away his thoughts as he began to search the three corpses, taking what few septims they had between them and a small note stuffed away in their knapsack before turning back to the village.

"Explaining this to the guards will not be fun." He muttered that to himself as he unfolded the note, reading the short description of a 'peculiar and unique Kajiit' wanted alive, nearly dropping the note when he saw the Thalmor seal at the bottom.


	4. The Nord

_**say hello to Sofia! another awesome mod character. if ya aint familiar, she speaks with a scottish/nordic accent, so just imagine that for virtually this entire chapter. you won't be disappointed. i hope.**_

* * *

Jorge rubbed his temples as he approached Whiterun, his head feeling like someone was trying to split it in half. Of course, drinking half the alcohol in Riverwood was liable to do that to someone. He wasn't paying any attention to the farms around the road he was on, simply fighting to clear his headache. That is, until a loud booming rumble shook his body as it reverberated in the ground. He blearily brought his eyes in the general direction of the sound to see a massive giant standing from where it had smashed the ground with it's club. Three armed warriors, two women and a burly armored Nord, were arrayed in an arc before it. None were carrying the far more advisable spear or pike for their adversary, instead, carrying long blades and one wielding a bow. That said, they had already given the giant a multitude of wounds, which was one of the safest ways to kill a giant. Make it bleed out or weaken to a point that you could kill it.

That was never his approach though. He grinned as he drew his axe, sprinting at the giant. A lot of Nords would have been calling out a battle cry or some such at this point, but given he was behind the giant, he felt a battle cry would have been detrimental to what he was planning. As soon as he reached the massive creature, he swung his axe as hard and fast as he could for the back of it's knee. His wild sprint added to the power of the swing, feeling the head drive clean through the giant's tendons. It let out a massive roar as it began to fall to its knees, Jorge using the moment to yank the axe free from its leg.

He didn't get the chance to do more though, as one of the others took it falling as their own chance, lunging forward and letting his two-handed long blade be driven into the giant's throat as it fell. The man expertly slipped aside as the creature fell, letting the creature's own weight let him yank the blade free, just as Jorge had just done with his axe not a moment before.

"Quite the axe arm you've got there, you would make a fine new shield brother!" one of the females shouted that to him as she slung her bow on her shoulder. She had dark red hair and bright green eyes, three streaks of dark grey war paint on her face.

"Companions eh?" Jorge grunted as he spoke, taking a moment to clean his axe blade on the giant's furs before sliding it back into its loop.

"I'd watch your tone stranger, we're the best warriors in all of Skyrim!" the male of the group, a Nord as large as Jorge himself was now speaking, cleaning his long blade after his killing blow.

"Oh? Maybe I'll test that!" Jorge grinned, having heard of the companions in the past. He never had much desire to join them, but he would be a liar if he stated he'd never thought about it.

"Calm yourself Farkas, no reason to get upset! And come join us in Jorvaskr, I'd be happy to spar with you anytime!" the archer gently smacked her comrade upside the head as she strode past, a younger imperial woman following her.

"Hmph. That makes two of us." The Nord grunted that out before he strode off, Jorge glancing between them and the giant's corpse.

"Eh. It does get lonely out on the road by oneself. Besides, drinkin' buddies are always good." He murmured that to himself before setting out after them.

Before he could get on the path into Whiterun though, shouting in the local stables drew his attention. "What in Akatosh are you doing in my stable woman! And by the divine where are your clothes!"

_Naked woman being yelled at? How could one refuse such a tempting offer…_ Jorge grinned as he diverted his course, walking toward the stable. There were several empty mead bottles scattered on the path, an old crate near the actual stable. From here, he could already see the stable owner in the open air structure, shielding his eyes from something in one of the stalls.

Inside the stall was, as the shouting owner had mentioned, a gorgeous Nord woman, completely nude as she groggily sat up, stretching with out a care in the world. There was hay stuck in several places in her lavishly long black hair, several knots visible in it even from the opening of the stall. Neither of her extraordinarily light blue eyes seemed to look at the owner, barely even open in fact.

"Now what kind of fella goes about screamin' and shoutin' first thing in the mornin'! Can't ya tell when a lady's had a bit of night!?" she had several more mead bottles around her, Jorge able to smell the alcohol on her breath even from a few paces away.

"Don' ya worry about her mister, I'll get her off your property in a heartbeat! Come on you!" Jorge purposefully strode right by the stable owner, gently yet firmly gripping her upper arm and pulling her to her feet.

"But what about the mess she made! There's at least a dozen bottles scattered around my stable!"

"I'll deal with em. But say, ye wouldn't happen to have some clothes hidin' in yer house, would ye? I've got gold if ya do. Can't exactly have her runnin about nude, now can we?"

Jorge winked at the man, who glanced between the two of them before grumbling out some unintelligible affirmation or another. He started to walk out of the stable, shaking his head.

"That's a good man!" Jorge grinned as he called that after him, just before feeling the woman's arm rip out of his hand.

"Now who gave you permission to come stridin' on in here and put your hands on a lady!" she crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at him, not actually making any attempt to cover herself.

"I thought I'd help a lass out of a bind! Besides, where would ye be if I hadn't."

She seemed to grumble to herself for a few moments before speaking. "I guess it would be a heck of a weird spot."

"So, once we git ya some clothes, ye should be good right?" Jorge raised an eyebrow at her as he spoke, surveying her gorgeous and fit body once more. She had several scars on her body, though none looked particularly serious. They were almost all former cuts, at least one looking like an arrow puncture, all well healed.

_Be mighty hard to let a lass like this one off on her own! She's got a few good scars, and by her muscles, she can handle herself! Just what I like in a lass!_

"Just going to leave me after that?"

"Well, yes lass. I can't just drag a lady 'round my business! Too many bandits bein' beheaded for that!"

"Well Jorge, I can handle a few bandits! I promise I'll pay you back for getting me outta this bind if ya let me tag along with ya?" her voice was boastful and proud, yet some of her softer tones were almost pleading. Too proud and boisterous in fact for Jorge to even notice her use of his name.

"I aint got no way of knowin' that! Let's git these bottles cleaned up!" he scooped one of the bottles up, rolling it into his hand until he could read the label on it.

_Huh… Black Briar mead. Good stuff. Not soft kicking either… no wonder she's missin her clothes!_

"But… uh… I'm injured! You wouldn't leave an injured lady all by herself would you?"

He rolled his eyes now, a smirk on his face. _Pretty desperate resorting to a lie that thinly veiled, aint she? She does sorta seem the capable sort. Those scars sure show her fair share of scraps, and I was just thinkin' how borin' fightin' alone gets…_

"Lass, there aint a mark on ye!" he figured it could be fun to string her out as much as he could.

"Uh… It's internal!"

He nearly cracked up laughing at that, tossing the bottle in his hand in the empty crate he could only assume was what she brought the bottles here in.

"Look lass, this isn't my first time 'round Skyrim."

"But… uh… ah screw it. It's gotten boring traveling alone! I promise, let me travel with ya, and you won't be disappointed!"

"Say I do let ye join me, how are ye gonna fight?"

"Well, I once attended the mages college in Winterhold… until they kicked me out. So I can blow stuff up with the best of 'em!"

_Huh… most Nords hate magic…_ Jorge though was mostly indifferent toward magic. He never understood those who practiced it, but he could admit, throwing fireballs and such around did always sound fun to him. If only to cause mayhem.

"And if you get me a blade, I'm pretty handy with one!"

"Oh, so you expect me to feed ye, cloth ye, and arm ye?" he turned to face her, planting his hands on his hips.

"What!? No, I didn't mean it like that! I promise, I can make my own money, I just… might need a hand getting started again…" she rubbed the back of her head, not making eye contact with him.

"Alright. Ye like to drink, out drink me in the tavern tonight, and I can make an exception." He crossed his arms as he grinned at her.

"Deal!" she returned his grin in kind.

"But first, ye got a mess to clean up, don' cha'?" his grin grew even more as her grin shifted into an annoyed glare.

"Now don't you think you can go about ordering me around now!"

"Eh, guess I'll go drink all the booze myself then!" he turned to leave, only making it two steps.

"Alright, alright! I'm pickin' up the mess!"

* * *

"I once shot an elf right in his backside while drunk! It was a total accident of course, but boy, ya shoulda heard his yowl! Ah, I couldn't stop laughin' from it!" the woman Jorge had found in the stable earlier was already slurring her words a little, having downed as many bottles of mead as Jorge had. She was keeping up with him, drink for drink, unlike some of the patrons who had tried to join their little drinking game, now sprawled across the tavern.

"Now how'd ye go and do that?"

"Oh… I'd had a few drinks and drunk ol' me thought it was a good idea to go for a hunt! So there I was, all drunk and bleary eyed, when I spotted movement off in the trees. I thought it was a deer or somethin', and I was too drunk to think about it too much! So I loosed an arrow at it! Next thing I know, I'm hearin' an elf hootin' and hollarin' about bein' shot in the rump. I couldn't stop laughin' to know what ended up happenin' to him though!" she was grinning as she shared her story, taking another swig of mead, her cheeks blazed red in the warmth of the tavern.

"Sounds like it was a fun adventure lass!"

"Oh it certainly was Jorge!" she loudly laughed as she finished speaking.

_Wait… she just called me Jorge… We aint even exchanged names yet, how does she know mine?_

"Alright lass…" he downed the entirety of his mug before loudly banging the empty on the counter. "How do ya know my name lass? I don' recall swappin' names with ya?"

Her grin slowly faded as her eyes went wide. "Oh fuck me…" she groaned that out as she dropped her forehead to the bar, making an audible _thunk_ on impact.

"Well, it's a little early in the night to speakin' of that little lass!"

"Oh! I didn't mean literally! I just… uh… well… I've kinda sorta been followin' ya for a while now…" she sat bolt upright for a moment, wincing as she finished.

"Now why would ya be doin that lass?" He smirked at her, the tavern keeper finally getting around to filling his mug. He gestured the mug at her in thanks, his focus still on his drunk companion. "I mean, sounds like there's a story there."

"Uh… not as much as you'd think! I just heard about this strapping Nord drinking all of the booze in Skyrim and I thought it would be fun to try an' tag along… I kept missing the chance to talk to ya though, then you headed to Helgan and well… lets just say Helgan and me don' mix well. I might have gone for a midday stroll through town with about as much on as you found me in today…" she winced again as she finished.

Jorge let out a deep and resonating laugh, unable to hold it in. "That's quite a reason to be kicked outta a town!"

"Oh, it was certainly a fun time! Besides, it wasn't the men who made me afraid to go back! Their wives would have killed me!"

Jorge managed to stem his laughs for a moment to take another swig while she was talking. As odd to hear that she had been following him for awhile was, it really didn't bother him. If anything, he was disappointed she hadn't talked to him sooner.

"You aren't angry at me for following you, are you? Or creeped out or-"

"Nah, 'hat reason do I got to be? A pretty lass such as yourself following me is a dream come true!" he winked at her before finishing his mug once more.

"Oh! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant it was getting boring to wander about by myself!" she was panicking again, Jorge just smirking.

"Well, Lass, I still think you are forgetin' somethin' rather important…" he banged his mug on the counter again, finding himself wondering if he had enough coin to fuel the drinks both he and this woman were downing.

"I am?"

"Well, _Lass_, if ya really want me to let ya stick 'round, I aint gonna call ya lass the whole time!"

"Oh! I'm such an idiot!" she smacked her forehead with a free hand, letting out a small chuckle. "My name's Sofia!"

"Good to meet ya Sofia! Now, what do ya say to meetin' them companion's tomorrow? Gotta pay for all of this booze somehow, right?"

"Sounds like a plan to me! It might be fiscally smart to share a bed tonight then…"

Jorge just smirked at her, the tavern keeper filling his mug again.

"I… I didn't mean it like that!" she panicked again as she realized what she had said, Jorge letting out a bellowing laugh once more.

* * *

Jorge's head pounded as he shambled out of the tavern, fingering his now virtually empty coin purse. Sofia had passed out only moments before him, the tavern keeper taking her up to the only room for rent. He, on the other hand, had literally slept where he passed out, slumped against the bar. Admittedly, it wasn't the worst night he ever had. At least he had slept there, after all.

"Ugh… the morning after always makes me regret drinking so much!" Sofia blurted that out as she staggered along beside him. Now that she was clothed, if the shabby tunic and pants counted as clothed, it was much easier for him to keep his attention off her.

"Well, I can think of one good solution." He said that as he popped the cork off a cheap wine bottle, taking a long swig of it before passing it to her.

"Oh… more booze certainly works…" she grinned as she took her own swig before passing the bottle back. The next few minutes followed this pattern as they walked for the cloud district, the slight buzz of the alcohol washing away the pulse pounding head ache. It did nothing for the lead like muscles though. Once in they had passed through one of the run down gate houses dividing the higher end cloud district from the main district, it was not a far walk to the literal 'boat house' that was the companions home.

Being a boat house meant the building was quite literally built out of the hull of a boat, the keel being the apex of the roof, with the overturned hull acting as the roof and walls. Many buildings had been built to mimic this architectural appearance in white run, being that the mead hall the companions called home was in fact older than the fort at the top of the small mountain and the city sprawling below it.

The pair made their way up to the building, Jorge throwing the door open as soon as he reached it. Several people were sitting around a large table, enjoying a breakfast of meats, cheeses and breads, even a few bowls of fruit. One of the figures at the tables immediately noticed them, a small smile expanding on the woman's face.

"I see you actually decided to show up! Kodlak is down stairs, he'll decide if you are fit to join us!" the red haired woman he had met the day before didn't leave her seat as she gestured to a stair well near where the 'bow' of the ship used to be. "And we might have room for your friend there too!"

"Oh, no! I don't have any interest in joining myself, I'm just here with my partner!" Sofia blurted that immediately.

"Oh? So you two are married then?"

"WHAT!? No, no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that! I meant traveling partner! That's all!" she rapidly waved her hands in front of her, completely wide eyed.

Jorge let out a bellowing laugh as he shook his head, heading down the stairs and through what appeared to be a small housing space. At the end of the hall was an open door, seeing two Nords wearing very similar custom armor to one another. He made his way over to the them, seeing the way they ceased their conversation as he approached.

"Ah, who's this now? Someone looking to join us?" the older of the two spoke as he shakily stood, resting his hand on the hilt of an arming sword. The man was giving Jorge a warm and welcoming child.

"Eh, thought it might be worth a try." Jorge shrugged as casually as he could manage.

"Not the typical response of a Nord with a fire burning in his heart!" the older man pounded his chest as he spoke, his eyes almost glaring at him, as if he was making him a challenge.

"Well, I never said I was a typical Nord, now did I? don' get me wrong, I love a fight as much as the next Nord, I just don' much care for the pleasantries between 'em."

"Hah, that's more like it! Vilkas, take him up to the yard. If he is capable, he's one of us." The older man was grinning as he gestured to his much younger companion.

"I've never even heard of this whelp, what makes you think he's worth anything?"

"Smart as you can be boy, you still haven't learned to judge a man. Sometimes, the famous seek us, others come to us to seek their fame. It makes no difference to us as companions Vilkas."

"I guess so. Well whelp, lets go test that axe of yours!" he jumped to his feet as he spoke, scooping up a long sword from where it was leaning on the wall. He led the way back up the stairs and out the doors opposite the ones Jorge had entered through.

While they were passing through the main hall though, he spotted Sophia wedged between two of the companions at the tables, a mug in one hand and a piece of bread in another as the trio blared out '_Ragnar the Red_' at the top of their longs. While the two younger people with her sounded utterly horrendous in their rendition of the folk song, her voice was clear and surprisingly beautiful compared to theirs.

_Wow, I didn't expect her to be able to sing._ He nearly muttered that to himself as he slipped out of the back door. Once back there, he found a small yet nice out door patio, followed by a small training area. Once the pair reached the training area, Vilkas, yanked his sword clear of his scabbard.

"Alright, let's keep this nice and simple. Just take a few good swings at me, don't worry I can take it." He spoke as he assumed a ready stance, both hands on the blade, point toward Jorge.

"Are ya sure about that? I've killed more than my share of folk?"

"Just swing whelp." Vilkas snarled that out in an almost straight animalistic fashion.

"Alright, ye asked for it!" he slipped his axe from his loop, tossing it lightly to catch the weapon in a proper grip. As soon as he had done so, he whipped the axe toward vilkas, the fellow Nord nearly being unable to stop the swing. As soon as Vilkas' blade connected with Jorge's axe handle, Jorge yanked the axe toward him, hooking the blade under the axe head as he directed the blade away from him, clearing the way to sink a left hook straight into Vilkas' jaw.

"Gah! Shit that was a punch!" Vilkas shouted that out as he staggered a few steps back, clutching his jaw. "That's enough for now. Say, you want to go on a job now?"

"'O course I'd love ta, What's the job?" Jorge dropped his axe back into the loop on his side, smirking at Vilkas.

"Oh, nothing crazy." He slipped his sword away as he responded. "Just three or four bandits around Rorikstead causing some trouble. Think you are up to it new blood?"

"Bandit's ye say? Sure, why not?"

"Alright, may your feet be swift, brother." Vilkas clapped Jorge's shoulder before he disappeared inside the house.

_Well, let's grab a bite and Sofia, then let's hunt us some bandits!_


	5. Cats and Dogs

_**In truth, i've had this chapter written for almost two weeks. it was stuck behind the previous chapter. anywho, AWAY!**_

* * *

"Hey, you alright Will?" Delphine's voice startled William from where he was sleeping in one of the inn's beds, snapping up to see Delphine leaning in the door.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"You were thrashing about in your sleep all night. People kept bugging me about it."

"I don't know what they're talking about. I slept fine." In truth, he had barely slept at all. To start, he felt like he could hear every noise in the inn, from as quiet as a mouse trying to claw into the cellar, to the bard and evening goers drink and song, even their conversations. The times he managed to block out all of the noise, the moment he slipped to sleep, it was into some nightmare or another.

"Your as bad of a liar as your father was." She shook her head as she bounced herself off the doorway, turning around to head away from the room. "Breakfast is at the bar if you want any!" she tossed that over her shoulder as she walked away.

William rubbed his tired eyes before slowly slipping his equipment back on. Once he had the cloak on atop everything, he grabbed his bow from the corner and quickly re-strung the weapon before slinging the weapon on his back. With the weapon secured, he flipped the cowl on the cloak up, taking one glance at the food up at the bar.

_Eh. Not really hungry._ He shrugged, heading for the exit to the inn instead. The morning was only just starting, the air still having a crisp bite from the night to it. He took a deep breath of the air, it being cold enough that it nearly burned his lungs.

"You, citizen, have you seen a strange looking Kajiit lately!?" a harsh voice snapped out from the road below him, looking down to see a Thalmor patrol. The lead Thalmor was another mage, male this time, his eyes glaring up at William.

_Fuck… they're already here!?_ He did his best to keep his panic from his face as he scrambled to find a good way to cover her presence.

"Well, you're gonna need to give a man a bit more info than that. Don't think I've ever met a Kajiit that wasn't strange." He artfully placed his hands on his hips, doing his absolute best to sell his hasty ruse.

"Don't play dumb with me! You would not forget this Kajiit!" the Thalmor snarled at him, his tone rapidly darkening.

"Well, musta not seen it. Never met a Kajiit I remembered past ten seconds! Heck, last I saw one was when one of the caravan's rolled this way years ago. 'fraid I can't help ya." He strolled down off the landing for the inn, walking right past the Thalmor on the road and immediately heading to the right and toward the village gate.

"You _will_ inform us if you see this Kajiit!" the Thalmor shouted that after him.

William gave him no response beyond a half hearted wave behind him, doing his best to move in a calm and relaxed manner. No matter how hard he tried, he wanted to run from them at top speed, his heart hammering away inside of his ribs.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._ As soon as he passed through the gate, he slipped off the path and slumped against the wall, taking multiple long deep breaths to try and calm his rattling nerves. It wasn't doing anything for them though.

"Why did you not turn her in just now?"

His heart suddenly felt like it was going to explode, his eyes snapping around to the source of the quiet and feminine voice. What he found was hands down the strangest creature he had ever seen.

She looked human, in shape at least, but many of her features were simply… _wrong_. Her emerald eyes were shaped like a feline's, even the basic structure of her face being off, more similar to one of the elven races than human. She had no normal ears, a pair of Kajiit ears atop of her head, protruding out from her fairly short brown hair. Said hair had a single braided strand on the left side of her face. On top of all of those strange to see features, her skin was totally covered by a short fuzzy fur, a light tan on her nose and face, darkening to a brown at the edges of her face.

Her clothes were in tatters, but was a fairly intricate tunic of obvious value, before reaching this state at least, the deep reds and blues looking like they were once quite beautiful.

At the moment, her ears were pressed down into her hair, nearly disappearing as her eyes bounced between his, a tail flicking back and forth behind her. She was quivering slightly, though whether it was from the cold or fear, William couldn't tell.

"What reason do I have _too _turn you in to them? I'm no friend of the Thalmor, and you are as much a person as anyone else." He shrugged, trying to not look into her eyes. Something about them just made him uncomfortable. His eyes wandered her tiny frame until he spotted the crude and blood stained bandage on her arm, his heart lurching.

_That has to still be hurting…_

"Why did you help her last night then with those bad men?" the more she spoke, the more her thick accent became apparent, nearly every 'R' sound being a full on cat trill.

"Because you needed it. And if I'm not mistaken, you _still _need it. I'm no expert but let's go look at that arm of yours." He gestured at the injury before finally making eye contact with her again.

Her eyes flicked to her arm for a moment, her ears finally perking up a little. "Y-You still want to help her?" her voice quivered slightly as she began to nervously shift back and forth.

"Well, yeah! You clearly need it!"

"She… well…" her ears started twitching like crazy, most if not all of her fur standing on end. "She did not really need your help! She could have handled them! But… she wants to th- errr, she… you were very helpful to her!"

_Wow, is that her way of saying thank you?_

"Well, come on, let's get out of easy sight, before those Thalmor come back." He gestured for her to follow him as he began to walk into the trees.

She let out a hiss behind him, nearly causing him to stop. "She does not like these_ 'Talmor'_." She let out another hiss after she mispronounced their name, William unable to not chuckle slightly.

_She acts just like a cat! Well, I guess that makes sense, she is at least **part** cat…_

"Don't laugh at her!"

"Sorry, you act so much like a house cat it's just cute, that's all." He responded without thinking, only to feel something bat the back of his head. He stopped and looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

She was glaring at him, her ears pressed down on her head again as her tail swished back and forth through the air behind her. "Calling her 'cute' or any other honeyed words will not get her to like you!"

"Well, good, that wasn't my intent anyway. This is far enough." He gestured at her arm, the girl grimacing but presenting it to him. He glanced around for a moment, quickly finding a stump and gently pulling her to it, forcing her to sit down before he gently untied the makeshift bandage and slowly unwrapped it.

"mraow! It hurts! Don't touch it!" her voice had risen several octaves with her pained meow like noise.

"I promise, I will do only what's necessary." As soon as he had the bandage off, the wound started bleeding again. Not fast enough to be life threatening now, but enough to be unsettling. It also had a strong, almost rotten smell, the smell not appearing until he got the bandage off.

_I really hope it's not infected… I'd need to find her a healer if it is._

"how are you feeling right now, fluffy?" he tried to sound casual as he slung his small satchel to his front to dig through it. Before he could though, he felt something smack his face, several lines being seared into place. "Ow, hey!"

"Don't call her fluffy! That is not her name!" she was glaring again, her free hand clutching the wound now.

"Well, what is her name!?" he snapped that back as he gingerly felt his face, feeling a series of white hot ridges forming from where she raked her claws across his cheek. Thankfully, they weren't wet, which meant she didn't draw blood.

"It's…" her shoulders slumped as all pretense of anger fell away. "She doesn't know… but there is no way it is 'fluffy'! That is a terrrrrible name!" she perked up as her voice shifted from meek to almost exuberant.

"Well, I won't call you fluffy then. Just answer my question fluffbutt." He gave her the tiniest of smirks as he glared right back at her.

She let out a low hiss, looking away. "She doesn't feel right. Her arm is all warm and feels heavy. And it smells. Not as bad as you though. You smell like a dog."

"Hey, I do not smell like a dog! Anyway, you probably have an infection trying to get set in. I'm going to have to clean out the wound so let go of your arm _fluffbutt._"

She growled again, but released her grip on her upper arm.

"Now this will probably hurt. Don't flex your injured arm though, it will make it bleed faster. Just… grab my knee and squeeze it, okay?" she nodded as William found his small bottle of antiseptic, dabbing it onto a clean bandage.

_Okay… here goes!_ He gently peeled her ruined sleeve off the wound, doing his best to be gentle as he wiped away the dark red gunk at the edges of the wounds. The moment the cloth touched the wound, the girl whined, her claws digging into his knee. He did his best to ignore the claws though as he gently cleaned the outer surfaces of the wound on both sides, as the small knife she had been stabbed with had gone clean through her small frame. Once done, he gently lifted her arm forward, pouring the antiseptic through her arm. The girl's whine intensified as her claws dug into his knee, feeling blood trickle down his leg as each claw turned into a searing pain.

_Ow… please put the claws up!_ He mentally begged that to her, knowing there was no way she would. Thankfully, he was satisfied with his cleaning job, re-corking the small bottle before digging out a small lidded cup with an herbal mixture ground into a paste inside. He gently lathered the gunky green paste onto her wound, the bleeding stopping moments after he rubbed it on. Once he was done, he used the first bandage to clean as much blood from her fur as he could, then used a fresh bandage to re-cover her arm. By then, she had let go of his knee, her whine dropping out to the occasional small whimper.

"There. Finished. Sorry about how much that hurt…" he spoke as he did his best to scrub her blood off his hands, able to feel that the punctures around his knee were minor at worst.

"It's… she feels… Cleaner. It hurrrts less." She actually smiled as she spoke, her ears perking up, though they were still twitching.

"So… you don't have a name?"

"No… She… She can't remember her name… she can't remember anything…" her ears drooped back down as she looked away, her shoulders slumping as she stared at the ground. It made her already smaller frame look even smaller than she was, almost straight child like.

"Oh… well, that's okay Fluffbutt. We just have to find someone who knows you, and I think I may know just who. Lets get you a fresh meal in you, then we can get some supplies and start he-"

"Err… she lost something a few days ago…"

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow at her, curious where she was about to take the conversation.

"She had a satchel. She los- errrr, left it at a tower when some dogs cha- err she forgot it!" she stuttered and corrected herself repeatedly, earning her a small eye roll. It was obvious she was trying to sound tough.

"Scary dogs scared you from your satchel? Too easy, just lead the way back there and I'll help you find it!"

"She is not sc-scared of d-d-dogs! She… She just doesn't like them! They smell! Really bad! And they're loud!" she defiantly glared at him, most of her body language straightening up.

"Whatever you say Fluffbutt. Let's go!"

* * *

The Kajiit followed after the strange human, pulling the cowl on the cloak as far forward as she could get it. She was very uncomfortable about passing through the human town. Even wearing the human's cloak, she felt like she was going to be spotted for sure. As such, she was following the human so closely she was stepping on his heels, trying to keep the cloak wrapped around herself.

"You know, if you keep stepping on my heels and hiding behind me, people are going to be even more curious about you."

"Quiet you! She doesn't want herrr voice to be hearrd!" she snapped that right back at him. She desperately wanted to be looking around for any possible threats, but her brain was telling her to keep her face pretty well buried into the human's back.

"Ranger? What are you doing back here?" She ran into the human's back as he stopped, causing both of them to stumble, instinctively grabbing his vest with her claws to stay standing. "And who's that behind you in your cloak?"

She peaked out over his shoulder for a moment, seeing another human just a few feet in front of her guardian, a warm smile on his face. He was larger than the boy in front of her, but that had been true of virtually every male she had seen as of yet. His warm brown eyes were fixed to hers. She let out a small startled meow as she ducked back behind her human shield.

"Just… Ranger things. And nobody."

"Doesn't seem like nobody to me. And…. Did she just meow?" his voice was soft and amused, a small chuckle following his words.

"Well, yeah. It's a long story, just drop it will ya? Was there something you wanted or…?" Her human on the other hand, sounded almost annoyed by the encounter so far. That was her guess at least. She was by no means good at reading tones and inflictions.

"Well, I am a little irked you ditched me when we got to Whiterun but… eh, honestly, makes sense. Actually, I saw you and thought I could use your help again." She peeked out past her human's arm this time, seeing the other human shrug.

"Can't. Busy."

"Well, it wouldn't be today. I asked Alvor to forge me some chain. Gonna be a few days before he has something ready for me. So it wouldn't be today… I just don't like the thought of going into a Nordic tomb by myself. Heard some horror stories about them." he was rubbing the back of his head, visibly nervous.

"Sorry, I can't help. I'm already helping someone as is." Her human nearly jabbed her eye out as he jerked his thumb roughly behind himself.

"She thinks we should help him! Her satchel is not that far, and he's all alone!" she snapped that out, her attention focused almost entirely on the person in front of her. That is, until she realized the other human was staring at her again. To which she let out another startled yowl before hiding behind her human again.

"Seems like your friend disagrees with you. There's no need to be scared of me miss!" she could simply _feel_ his words being directed at her. "What's your name miss?"

"She… umm…"

"Just call her Fluffbutt. Its what I'm calling her."

"Do not call her Fluffbutt! It is not her name! And neither is fluffy!" She sprang out in front of him again, not quite shouting. She still didn't want to draw attention to herself, but his use of the word 'fluffbutt' again simply caused her blood to boil. She was hissing at him, desperately wanting to claw him again.

"I take it that nickname and her are the reasons for those claw marks on your face."

"That would be a safe assumption yes. And are you sure you want to help him, little Kitten? If he's going where I think he's going, it's filled with undead Draugr." His eyes bounced between hers for a moment, his eyebrows just ever so slightly closing together in concern.

She really wanted to yell at him again, this time for the kitten comment, but his mentioning of Draugr had all of her fur standing on end, her body trembling despite being unable to recall what a 'Draugr' was in the first place. "She will protect you from those nasty Draugr! She thinks it is only right to help him!"

He rolled his eyes at her, his focus going behind her. "Alright, fine, just give us a day or two. We'll meet you at the inn. Tavern keep and I go back a ways so. Now if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere to be."

"Alright Ranger. I'll hold you to that. And it was nice meeting you, miss." He very calmly and politely responded to her human before waving good bye to them.

Her human didn't wave back, simply stepping around the girl and continuing where they had been going. She yelped and immediately followed along behind him, still trying to hide herself until they were well clear of the small village. It was then that she finally stopped riding his heels, stepping a few feet to his right and walking with him now. She still kept the hood up though.

"So… your name is Ranger?" She only glanced at him as she spoke, fiddling with the tattered cloth of her outfit.

"Well, no, not really. I am a Ranger… I guess… It works as a way to refer to me. Gets my attention if anything else." Most of what he said sounded calm and controlled, but the way he said 'I guess' was odd to her. There was a hesitation to it, a shift in tone she couldn't understand.

"If Rrrranger is not your name, then what is it?"

"Not your concern." he gruffly responded, almost angrily in many ways.

"She think's it's her concern! She cannot simply go around calling you Rangerrr all the time!" she stamped her feet while she walked and glared at him.

"Well, that's where you're wrong." He coldly snapped that back, his eyes scanning their surroundings.

_She shouldn't press him. He's helping her without asking for a single thing in return!_ She looked away from him with that thought, trying to simply focus on where they were going.

* * *

"The tower is not far now! Just beyond those trees!" Will listened to the strange girl as she pointed ahead of them, the hood on his cloak, that she was still wearing, pulled down so he couldn't actually see her face.

"Well, why'd you stop then?" he tried to be gentle with his words, but he had spent most of the past few days walking, and even he was starting to reach his limits. Add to it being only an hour or so from sunset and he really wanted to stop and camp. The tower sounded like a great place to camp to him.

"She… She can smell them still…" her ears were pressed back onto her skull, the girl visibly trembling.

"They won't hurt you." He reached over and patted her shoulder, smiling toward her to try and comfort her. She only glanced at him, her trembling intensifying.

"She's not scared! It's not her they will hurt! So she will be sure to protect you!" she squeaked that out, glancing at him before her eyes started to scan the area feverishly.

Will rolled his eyes at her before stepping off, his sword singing out of it's scabbard. It didn't take long at all to cross the line of trees she had pointed at, William keeping his eyes scanning slowly back and forth as he listened for any noise not made by himself. So far though, the forest was almost silent. That in and of itself was concerning to him.

_The only time the forest goes quiet like this is when people are around._ As soon as he spotted the stone of the ancient watchtower, he ducked behind a tree, making sure to urge the girl behind him as he carefully scanned the area for any signs of movement. With none to be found, he waited for the gentle breeze to shift, taking a deep breath in through his nose in hopes to smell any sign that something was out of place. But nothing was.

_Alright. It **seems** clear._ He swiftly stepped out from behind the tree, naturally watching where he let his feet fall for twigs or dry foliage, anything that could make noise he didn't need heard. He was so practiced at this that to any observer, he would have been gliding across the ground. Evidently, the girl behind him had a similar talent for moving quietly, the only sound reaching his ears from her being the gentle in and out of her breath, so faint it likely wouldn't be heard save for a yard or two away from her.

They reached the tower without incident, William leading the way around the structure until he found it's one empty door way. As soon as he saw the door open, he swept straight inside, his sword at the ready to hopefully catch any occupants inside off guard. All his preparation was left useless though, as not a soul stirred in the single room. One quick sweep with his eyes located a small leather satchel, William moving straight for it as he slid his sword away.

As soon as he had grabbed it, he opened it, checking the scant few possessions inside. There were a few strips of dried jerky and a single piece of hard bread, a meager four or five septims, a small yet surprisingly intricate ring, and a single small note. Curious, he pulled the ring and note out before setting it down.

"What does it say?" the girl spoke as she picked up the satchel herself, perusing it's contents much as he had.

He quickly unfolded the parchment, reading it to himself.

**_Your name is M'rissi. This ring holds the key to regaining your memories. Do not lose it child._**

_Hmm. So her name is M'rissi? Definitely a Kajiit name, as if it was a question she was part Kajiit._

"Rrrranger?" he was about to inspect the ring further when her voice rang out, almost pleadingly.

"Well, turns out my first guess was spot on! Your name is Fluffy after all!" he couldn't stop himself from playing with her a little, more just as payback for clawing his face that morning.

"WHAT!? Give her that! There's no way her name is Fluffy!" she snatched the note from his hands before he could react, visibly looking over the note several times, her brow furled in concentration. "M… M'rrrissi? Is M'rissi her name?" she glanced up at William as she spoke, the same expression still on her face as she bit her lower lip.

"Well, yeah. That's what it says at least M'ri." It felt nice to finally have an actual name for her, even if his first use of it was an abbreviation.

"M'rissi… her name is M'rissi…" her voice was very quiet as her eyes returned to the tiny note, clearly trying to read it again. There was something different to the way she pronounced it, the trilled 'r' he had already noticed in her speech making it sound almost like a different word. He had to admit though, her saying it made the name sound beautiful.

"Well, it's definitely a fitting name for you. Cute as you are at least!"

_Maybe a little compliment will help her feel more comfortable with it?_

She looked up at him and smiled for a moment, her ears perking up. "It is a prrretty name isn- Hey! She told you, honeyed words will not make her like you more!" she threw the paper at him as she shouted, William unable to not smile a little at her antics.

"I get it, I get it, no need to throw things at me!"

"Well! She thinks it's a good reason to!" she pouted at him, crossing her arms as she looked away.

While she wasn't looking, he scooped the page up from the floor, scanning the words once more as he inspected the ring. It was a simple silver band with a large green gem on it, something about the gem being strange to William, but he couldn't quite put his tongue on it. On a cursory glance, he couldn't see anything really out of the ordinary though, not even any engravings or lettering.

"So… Err, what else did the note say about her?"

"You couldn't read it could you?" he raised an eyebrow at her, a slight smirk on his face.

"No! she knows how to read! She just… has trouble reading…"

"Well, it mentioned this ring, said it could help you regain your memory. Didn't say how though." He flicked the ring into the air between them, the girl going wide eyed as she moved to catch it.

"What!? Why would you toss it at her!?" she snapped that out as she caught it, glaring at him.

"Oh, I knew you would catch it! Besides, I was kinda hoping you se-" his voice cut out as he heard several loud barks, M'rissi's ears flattening as her eyes widened. "Well, I think that's our cue to leave. Here." He whipped his blade from it's scabbard, handing her the weapon before slipping his bow off his back.

She gulped as she accepted the sword, slipping the ring into her satchel and slinging it. When she was done, she gave him a single nod.

He led the way back out of the tower, slipping an arrow onto the string of his bow as he scanned for movement in the direction of the barking. He wasn't looking long as he immediately spotted a pair of dogs scrabbling out of the trees. He immediately raised and drew his bow, one look at the dogs telling him they were out for blood. In the same smooth motion, he released the arrow, watching it leap out and plunge into the dog's chest, felling it immediately. The second dog was far too close for him to ready another arrow though, already leaping for him. He reacted by stepping to the side and sweeping his bow to intercept the leaping dog. He struck it's neck with enough force to direct it away from him, sending it crashing to the ground. It didn't get the chance to get up, as M'rissi had raised the blade over her head and slammed it down onto it's neck the moment it landed, slicing it's head clean off.

In seeing this, William had a great view of a third dog coming around from the backside of the tower as it leapt into M'rissi, sending both her and the dog sprawling as it tried to go for her throat. It got one of her forearms instead, M'rissi yowling in pain as it bit down, the sword lost from her grip.

William already had another arrow being strung, aiming into the dog's side before loosing the arrow. At the short range they were at, it nearly ripped clean through the dog, immediately killing it.

"Thank you rranger…" M'rissi panted that out as she inspected her arm, no puncture marks even visible.

_Wait… no punctures? That means the dog was trying to pin her… which mea-_ he didn't get to finish his thought as something buried itself into his shoulder, a brilliant spot of pain flaring to life with incredible intensity. He fell forward, both from the impact and the pain in his right shoulder, dropping his bow to grip at the injury.

"RANGER!" M'rissi screamed, scrambling to beside him, William confused as to what she was doing for a moment when she grabbed his bow and one of his arrows. She expertly and smoothly knocked the arrow, drawing the bow back and releasing the arrow in a motion that was visibly practiced and trained. There was a meaty thump in the direction she had launched the arrow, William looking that way to see a man sprawled on his back, a bow of his own a few steps away.

"Ranger! Are you… your…" M'rissi was clearly panicking as she dropped the bow, kneeling before him with her ears pressed flat on her head. Her tail was swishing madly behind her, her wide eyes focused on the arrow in his back.

"I'm alive… I don't think it's that bad." He spoke as he gingerly shifted the shoulder. It sent a stab of pain through the injury, but he could feel the arrow tip just barely resting on his shoulder bone. Which meant his gambeson had taken most of the force from the arrow, and just the very tip had actually hit him. "Go ahead and pull it out. Gently."

"Are you sure?" she sounded as unsure as she looked, biting her lip once again.

"Yes. I'm sure. It's not the first time I've been hurt." He gave her a quick smirk, pain quickly erasing it.

"Okay. She's sorry for this…" she spoke as she gently grabbed the shaft, inadvertently moving the arrow and causing pain to rip through his arm. A moment later, he could feel the tip of the arrow pulling out of his shoulder, gritting his teeth from the pain. There was a slight tearing sound as M'rissi let out a small grunt, sudden relief coming from the pain as he felt the arrow rip back out of the gambeson.

As soon as the shaft was out of him, he gingerly pulled his shoulder bag off, then used his good hand to undue the clasps for his gambeson, pulling the vest off. "M'rissi, I have bandages and a poultice in my bag. You're going to have to apply them." He tried to pull his undershirt off as he spoke, realizing that he wasn't going to get it off one handed with his vambraces on.

"H-Here." She spoke as she helped him remove the shirt, pulling the cloth out from under his vambraces before she dug into his bag. A few moments later, she had the same poultice he had used on her that morning out, applying the crushed herbs to his shoulder before wrapping a bandage around his shoulder. By the time she was done securing the bandages, both tightly and surprisingly well, the poultice was already taking affect, numbing the wound. "She's sorry. She said she would protect you but sh-"

"Stop. You did. You shot the bastard who shot me after all." He smiled to her as he began to tug his shirt back on, doing his best to not move his injured side too much. As soon as the shirt was on, he stood up, looking back at the corpse. "As much as I hate saying it… I think we need to camp in the tower tonight.

"M'rissi thinks so too… M'rissi really doesn't want to though…" she was quivering still, kneeling where she had been while treating William. she had his gambeson in her hands, fingering the damage the arrow had caused.

"We'll sleep in shifts. I'll take the first one. Before that, let's get these corpses away from the tower so they don't attract any predators to us." As he spoke, he offered her his good hand, M'rissi staring at it for a moment before accepting it.


	6. Alpine Camp

_**Been alot longer than i intended, mostly because i have not really been able to write lately, but i hope you all enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

Max stretched as he stepped out of the room he had rented, knowing he had to speak to the inn keeper about renting the room for another night. He had spent the majority of the day before exploring Riverwood. He still wasn't entirely certain how he managed to get a whole day of exploration out of the tiny river side village, but he spent most of today simply lounging in the room and reading the books provided by the inn. Most of them were poorly written adventure novels, not one really interesting him, but it had passed the time.

_I wonder when exactly Ranger and his new friend will get here?_ He couldn't help that thought as he approached the counter.

"Hello, need something?" the inn keeper smiled warmly to him as he approached.

"Yeah, just need to pay for the room tonight."

"Don't worry about it. You told me yesterday you were going to be here for a few days. Pay me when you are ready to go."

"Thanks I guess." He nervously rubbed the back of his head, now unsure what to do with himself. Instead of awkwardly standing by the counter, he started to move to sit at one of the many tables in the tavern.

That was when he spotted a familiar green cloak march in, one of the strangest girls he had ever seen following him. He recognized her emerald green eyes from the other day, but the cloak had hidden most of her features last time. That said, she now had a recurve bow, much smaller than the long bow Ranger was carrying, and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. Which brought his eyes back to the ranger beside her.

"Ranger!" he hollered as soon as he saw him, seeing his companion startle for a moment, giving him a wide eyed stare. "You don't need to be so jumpy miss, just breath." He added that as he purposely strode across the tavern toward them.

"Are you ready to set out?" Ranger spoke calmly and quickly, though Max was able to discern a tightness in his voice, as if it hurt to talk.

"Set out!? No! you are hurt!" his companion stepped between them, her ears and tail twitching as she stamped her feet at him.

"I'm fine M'rissi. It's just gonna hurt a little to shoot my bow for a few days." He calmly replied to her, his eyes only flicking to her for a moment.

"M'rissi does not care what you _think _you can do! You need rest!" she defiantly retorted that, not even giving Max a chance to speak.

"And I'm telling you I don't. Besides, that stab to your arm is a heck of a lot worse than what I got, yet you don't seem to be complaining about it." Now that Ranger had said something about it, Max noticed the off white bandages under the ripped sleeve on the half-Kajiit.

"M'rissi isn't trying to aggravate it! M'rissi needs rest too!"

"Wait, both of you, shut up for two seconds, you're both injured?" he stepped beside the girl so he could be easily seen by both of them. Though his tone was firm, he had no harshness to it.

"Yes. M'rissi got stabbed in the arm a couple of days ago by a knife, I got shot in the back by an arrow last night." Ranger spoke incredibly calmly, almost boredly so.

"Well, I'm not strong at it, but I can do some light healing magic. Maybe I could patch the two of you up?" he shrugged as he spoke.

"Would be worth a try."

"M'rissi doesn't want anyone to use magick's on herrrr! Keep it away!" she spoke as she stepped away from him, half hiding behind Ranger.

"You can trust Max, M'rissi. I trust him with my life. He wouldn't hurt you." Ranger's voice was much quieter and softer than Max had ever heard him use, almost as though he was trying to reassure her.

_I'm kind of shocked he would say that… then again, he's probably trying to get her to let me treat her wounds. He was probably exaggerating the whole trust thing._

"Well, it's up to you two. That said, I agree with M'rissi, pretty name by the way miss, if you two are injured, you need to rest. Besides, Alvor said three days before he'd have something usable. Only been two."

"I wouldn't mind. Even if it just speeds up the healing a bit, punctures suck. Be nice to heal quicker." Ranger shrugged after he spoke, wincing as he likely disturbed the injury he had.

"But… Magick is bad… Don't let him use it on you!" M'rissi whimpered that out, her ear's plastered to her head, her tail hugging her leg. There was a slight tremble to her as well. Given the overly warm room they were in, Max doubted it was from the cold.

"I'll be fine. I promise." He gently squeezed the girl's shoulder as he spoke. "Delphine, is my room still free?" he shouted out to the counter, his eyes leaving the small group.

"It's still empty!" the tavernkeeper shouted that back, Ranger beckoning for Max to follow him. The trio made their way to one of the many rooms lining the walls of the tavern, Ranger opening one of the doors for them to file in. once inside, Ranger started stripping his weapons off. He winced any time he manipulated his right shoulder. Once he had his shirt off, Max could see the bandages tightly wound around his torso, a spot on his back tinged red.

Now that Ranger was shirtless, Max began to unravel the bandages. There was some sort of green paste rubbed all over the wound, Max touching the substance. "What's all this green crud?"

"It's a herbal blend. Helps stop bleeding and numbs the wound."

"Hmm. Neat. You'll have to show me the mix sometime."

"Will do. Just heal it already."

Max took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did his best to reach into his own mind, feeling what he could best describe as a burning flame, right in the core of his chest. Once he found it, he pulled a string of the flame from it and to his right hand. Light glowed in his vision, opening his eyes to find his hand glowing amber. His mind naturally had twisted the magicka into the spell he wanted, only knowing three spells himself anyway. Now that he had the magic prepped, he held his hand near the injury and opened his hand. The magic naturally bled out of his hand and toward the injury, sending a strange tingling sensation up his own arm. Before his eyes, the wound sealed, forcing the green paste and some blood in the wound out. Ranger's muscles all tensed during the process. After a few seconds, the magic seemed to stop flowing on it's own, letting Max know the injury was healed.

"There, feel better?" As Max had been working, M'rissi had moved closer, watching curiously as he had been working. Both of her ears were still flat on her head, but her tail was swishing back and forth.

"Much. Thanks Max." he was reaching for his shirt when M'rissi nearly shoved Max out of the way, gently cleaning the green paste from his back to find a neatly formed bright pink scar in place of the injury.

"You did heal him…" her voice was very quiet, almost shocked.

"Well, yeah, it's what I said I was going to do. Let's take a look at your arm." He grabbed a rag from the wash basin beside him as he spoke, gently shouldering past M'rissi to wipe all of the blood and paste away.

"I'm going to go speak with Delphine. I might even be able to get you a discount on your room Max." Ranger spoke as he stood, slinging his still stained and ripped shirt on before he stepped out of the room.

M'rissi took a step after him, one of her hands about to grab him. But she stopped herself, her ears still plastered to the top of her head.

"Well, are you going to let me heal you too?" he smirked at her as he gestured her to him.

"M'rissi doesn't like this…" she bit her lip as she took a step away from him.

"It's alright. I promise. It will sting a little and feel really weird, but I'll have you fixed up in no time!" he tried to sound as reassuring as he could as he smiled at her.

"Okay…" she stepped toward him and presented her arm to him.

He gingerly unwrapped the wound, the girl whimpering as he did so. Once he could see the wound, he summoned his magicka once more, the girl straight hissing as the magic began sealing the wound. Once the magic finished, he used the remains of the bandage to clean her up.

"There. See?" he smiled to her gently.

"She still doesn't like magic…" she grumbled that out as she rubbed her now healed arm.

"So… you didn't know your name yesterday? Did you remember it or something?"

"N-no… M'rissi can remember a couple weeks and that's it…"

"Oh… well, I hope you can get your memories back, how did you learn your name then?"

"Ranger helped me get my satchel back. It had a note with her name."

"Well, I'm glad you were able to get that back. If you need any help, I'd be hap-"

"M'rissi will be fine." She finally smiled to him. Her ears didn't seem fully erect, but they were no longer pressed to the side of her head.

Before more could be said, Ranger stepped back into the room. "You said Alvor would have something ready for you by tomorrow or so?"

"Yes." Max curtly responded to him, standing from where he was.

"Alright." As he spoke, he grabbed his satchel and pulled out a paper map. "It's going to take us about three days to get up there, we have to camp just shy of the snow line for at least two days. Otherwise, this would be a one day hike." He unfolded his map and laid it out, using a quill to point at the road leading up the mountain. The map was surprisingly detailed, but it only showed the southern holds of Skyrim.

"Why do we have to stop? I'd rather just go up there and be done with this." Max raised an eyebrow at Max.

"Alpine sickness, as some folk call it. Dad called it the rules of high places…" his voice dropped off for a moment, Max noticing Ranger's eyes starting to glisten slightly. Ranger wiped his face with his arm, trying to make the move seem casual. "Basically, if we don't stop to let our bodies adjust, we are going to have a lot of trouble up in the barrow. Takes forty eight to seventy two hours. Really, we ought to take at least three days camping, but we should be fine at two days."

"Alright. I'm not used to moving around the mountains, so I'll trust you." Max nodded to Ranger as Max responded, knowing Ranger grew up around here and to trust his judgment.

"What are we going to this _barrrow_ for?" M'rissi's voice trilled as she spoke, her voice very quiet.

"Some stone that's supposed to be there. The jarl's court wizard called it a 'dragonstone'." Max calmly responded to her.

"Well, to be frank, I won't be too much use once we are in the barrow. I've been up the mountain a few times, so I know the way, but it's pretty tight inside the structure. I'm not sure how useful our bows will be. If we can, I'd like to get M'rissi a dagger or something from Alvor. She'll need it."

"Make's sense. Alvor said he would have a shield for me too, so If it gets too tight up there, I'll go first. Maybe I can block the hall and you two could fire over me, if we get into a fight?"

"Sounds like a pretty valid tactic. We won't know until we get up there though so."

"True. I guess we just get some sleep and worry about it when we get there." Max stood and stretched as he spoke, not having liked being crouched as he was.

"Where will M'rissi sleep tonight? M'rissi is… unsure about staying in town…" her ears had drooped down again, her slight quiver returning.

_Poor girl… I wonder why she's so scared right now?_

"It's safe here M'ri. We'll share this room, Delphine doesn't have another free room anyway. Besides, we can sleep in shifts again if it makes you feel better M'rissi." Ranger's voice had shifted to that softer tone once more.

"You didn't sleep last night though! You need sleep!" she immediately protested him, something she seemed to do a lot.

"you can sleep in my room M'rissi, I can pull an all nighter and sit watch at your door. Will that work for you two?" Max offered up his suggestion, more toward M'rissi than Ranger.

"Are you sure about that Max?" Ranger's voice shifted yet again, back to his normally cold tones.

"Positive. I've been doing nothing but relaxing for the past two days."

"M'rissi doesn't trust you…" M'rissi shyly spoke, not making eye contact with Max. though her quiet words could have been taken as an insult by some, it was clear to Max it wasn't meant as one. She was merely being honest after all.

"I guess that's fair. Offer's open though. I'm going to go see what's for dinner." With that, Max turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

William marched along the trail leading up the mountain, balancing the long wooden fishing pole he had purchased from the local shop that morning in his hand. The air was considerably colder than it was down in the valley now that they were halfway up the mountains, each breath leaving a swirl of white vapor behind him as he walked.

"I gotta thank you again for getting those free nights from the inn keeper. Never thought you'd be able to get that for me." William glanced at Max beside him, seeing the shiny new steel heater shield slung on his back, as well as the simple chainmail vest. It offered no protection to his arms or legs, but it was better than no armor, and had been about all any smith could have made in a few days. he had added a thicker coat under it with a hood to help protect him from the cold. Of course, William had been the one to get the coat for him, along with a coat for M'rissi as well.

"I told you. The innkeeper and I go way back. Was nothing." William shrugged as he walked on up the hill.

"Still. You saved me nearly fifteen septims. That isn't a small amount of gold. So thanks. Really."

William merely shrugged once more, keeping his eyes on the trees around them for the moment.

"How much further to the campsite _Rrrangerrr_? M'rissi's feet hurt…" M'rissi mumbled that out from behind the two of them, William glancing back at her to see her staring off into the trees, her ears pressed back on her skull. The fur coat William had gotten for her was still big on her, despite being the smallest one Lucan, the shopkeeper, had in his shop. It swamped her frame, and she had been rather annoyed about having to wear it.

"two more miles M'rissi. Then you can get off your feet."

"That short?" Max was speaking now.

"Yes. You two can actually keep up with me. Taking a lot shorter than I thought it would." William hoped that was the end of the conversation, just wanting to push the last two miles to get off his feet as well. As it turned out, it was the last thing said as they trudged up the trail.

The surrounding terrain brought up too many trips of William's past to his mind, William unable to not stop at one of the trees. The clearing they had just arrived in was a yearly visit for William and his father for as long as he could remember. It was also one of the only places he could remember his mother at. The tree he had stopped at had notches cut deep into the bark, marking his height each time they had come. Dozens of other trees in the area had similar notches, his family having followed the tradition for generations. His father had a tree here, as well as his grandparents.

"This the spot?" Max gave William a curious look.

"Yes. Camp where ever you want, try to set up a tent or lean to if you can. I'm going to go get us lunch." William did his best to make it seem like he was wiping his nose as he wiped his moist eyes, keeping his hood over his face to try and help conceal it.

"What is lunch _Rrrangerrr_?" M'rissi pranced up next to William, despite having been complaining about aching feet earlier.

"Salmon. Maybe. They tend to be rare this time of year, may get lucky. Go help Max get some shelters set up." William tried to be as curt and crude as he could, hoping it would help urge her away.

"Fishies!? M'rissi wants to catch some fishies!" here ears had immediately perked up, a grin on her face as her tail whipped through the air.

"You'll scare them all off. Go help Max." he remained as curt and crude as he had before, speeding up in hopes that she would leave him be.

* * *

Max let out a sigh as he stood and stretched, admiring his handywork. With the trio of extra blankets he and Ranger had gotten, he was able to use one of the trees to make a makeshift shelter for all three of them. It was going to not have a whole lot of room, but Max figured the trio touching was likely for the better, as the night was going to be frigid.

"M'rissi wonder's if _Rrrangerrr_ has caught any fishies yet…" The half-Kajiit was staring off out of the clearing, in the direction Ranger had left with his fishing pole, her ears flat on her head. She visibly bit her lip for a moment, her tail twitching back and forth.

"Would you keep an eye on the fire M'rissi? I'll go check on him." He smiled to her as he spoke, trying to sound calm and friendly.

_I don't think she has any idea what's he's been through lately…_ Max couldn't help but notice the notches in the trees around the area, all made by humans if Max had to guess. He had also seen the look on Ranger's face when he stopped by that tree earlier.

"Okay… But don't take too long! M'rissi doesn't want to be alone!"

Max walked out of the clearing, finding the ground suddenly slopping down just outside of the clearing. From there, he could easily see a stream, Ranger down by the edge of the water, his ever present cloak on, hood up. It took less than a minute for him to walk down to him, standing by the bank as he looked into the crystal clear water.

"It's gorgeous up here." He spoke as he observed the area, the stream before him idyllically gurgling by. The air was cold but refreshingly crisp, the wind bringing nothing but the smell of clean air and pine trees.

"Always has been." Ranger was curt in his words, but there was a softer tone to his voice that was nigh impossible for Max to read. If he had to guess, it was sadness, or remorse.

"Come up here a lot?"

"Once a year."

"I can see why. Catch anything yet?"

"Couple of skinny salmon and a big ol' catfish. Haven't caught a catfish up here in years, so kinda surprised about getting him." He gestured at a rope he had wrapped under a rock, the line leading off into the water.

"Sounds like some good eating then."

"Not really. It's a big catfish for up here. Maybe a twenty pounder. Two salmon are maybe five pounds a piece. Not really a good amount of food."

"fair enough. Want me to find anything to go with them? I've gotten pretty decent at finding food in the woods." He gestured back off at the trees as he spoke.

"Some berries might be nice. Don't take the red ones though. They're poisonous unless they are prepared right. Black, blue and purple are all fine though."

"Alright. You doing okay Ranger?" Max intentionally lowered his voice, trying to be as soft toward him as he could manage.

"I'm fine Max." Ranger's voice cracked slightly, despite Ranger trying to be as curt as he had been.

"You keep saying that but you don't seem like it."

Ranger let out a soft sigh, the pole in his hands dipping down slightly. "I know I don't seem it. But I'm fine. I have to be." His voice was shaking as he spoke, wiping his face again.

"Don't push yourself too hard. Losing family isn't something you get over in a day. Anyway, I'm going to go find those berries."

"Alright. And Max, I really did mean what I said last night. About trusting you?"

"What makes you say that now?" Max gave him an amused smirk, not that Ranger would see it, staring off into the water as he was.

"You… just seemed like you didn't believe it when I said it last night. Just wanted to make sure you knew that." Ranger's voice was far quieter and weaker than his normal, sounding almost vulnerable, if Max was forced to describe it.

"Fair enough. I've got your back as long as you've got mine." He gently squeezed ranger's shoulder before he turned toward the trees, seeing M'rissi making her way down from the clearing. "M'rissi, I told you to stay with the fire!" he shouted that up to her, mildly annoyed to see her.

"She put the fire out! It's not cold enough for it and she wanted to know if we had any fishies!" her tail was excitedly swishing back and forth behind her as she continued to prance down the hill.

Max shook his head as he dropped it into his hand. "The fire was so we could _cook_ the fish."

"Cook fishies?! Why not just eat raw fishies! Fishies are best raw!"

"Not all of us are half cat fluffbut." Ranger's voice sounded mildly amused behind Max, Max looking back to see his head shaking under his hood.

"Her name is M'rissi! Stop calling her fluffbut!" M'rissi's demeanor made a complete reversal, her tail now flicking behind her as she let out a small hiss.

"Then no fishies for the kitty." Ranger still sounded amused, but his attention was on the water before him.

"Fine! M'rissi will catch her own fishies!" she defiantly plopped on a rock beside him, her arms crossed over her chest.

_With her around him, maybe he will be. She gets him to make jokes at least. _Max smirked at the pair, turning away from them to try and forage what he could from the area.

* * *

**_D̶̨̜͖͎̣̥̈͋̓́̃̎e̴̙̤̞̾̓š̸̼͓͈̭̼̘͓͓̦̄͛̓͐̇͌͠͝t̸̨͍̟͖͌̊̏̊̌͠r̷̡̢͇̼̥͚̩̀͊̅͝o̵̧̬̫̘̕y̶͇̓̋̃̏͐̈͑̕͝ ̴̳̻̐̚ǐ̴̛̮͈̟̻̪͎͒̒͂͊̋̾t̷̛̬̺̠̣̪͈̅̏̓͛̔̕͝_**

**_)_**

William snapped awake, a strange voice rattling through his mind that he couldn't place nor really understand. It had been forceful, powerful, almost angry in a way. Despite that, it was though he was hearing it from an extreme distance.

_Eh, probably nothing. _He did his best to settle his mind again, able to feel M'rissi tight against his side. They had silently agreed to sandwich her between William and Max because her tattered clothing did very little for her in the cold mountain air. All night she had been pretty well attached to Williams back. He wasn't complaining though as she was fairly warm, so it actually felt nice. And, for some reason, tonight was the first night he had managed to sleep at all during. Until now at least.

No matter how much he wanted to just go back to sleep, his body simply felt _antsy_. As though he had to move and right this instant. The feeling was so overpowering that William crawled out from under his cloak and the lean-to. Oddly though, he remained on all fours, somehow feeling _right_ to stay that way. With his eyes now open, he glanced around the clearing, his mind barely registering the odd clarity to area. It was a cloud filled night after all and should have been impossible to see, and yet, he could see every tree, every pine needle, every root, all as though it was mid-day, simply dark instead of bright.

Hoping to get the antsy feeling to go away, he stretched out, nearly screaming out in fright as he saw his 'hands'. Instead of hands, he had fur covered paws, a grey wolf's paws if he recognized them properly.

_Alright. I'm definitely dreaming._ He chuckled to himself with that realization. He had vivid dreams his entire life, and when compared to the dreams plaguing his nights of late, dreaming he had somehow become a wolf was straight up pleasant. He took a deep breath in as he straightened up, feeling a small breeze whisper by his fur, not feeling the chill night at all.

"_No… no-no… don-… don't take them… no…_" M'rissi's whispered voice drew Williams attention, looking at her to see her reaching for where he had been 'sleeping' a moment ago. Her hand grasped at nothing though, the girl letting out several small whimpers that sounded vividly real.

Though he had never heard exactly what she was mumbling in her sleep, since the day he met her she had been having some sort of nightmare every time she slept. It varied in intensity, only waking her up a few times, though she never could recall exactly what was happening in those nightmares. William had learned that if he gently rubbed behind her ear it would calm her down, letting her remain asleep.

Acting on that knowledge, he padded back to the lean-to and gently rubbed the side of his face behind her ear, as comfortingly as he could manage with the form of a wolf. He knew this was nothing but a dream, but he hated seeing other people suffer, and had since he was just a little boy. So even in a strange dream like this one, he had to do _something_ to help her. She seemed to immediately calm from his gentle touch, but her muttering continued, too quiet for William to pick out.

)

)

)

**_K̶̡̡̦̥͍̙̤̗͓̭̺̝̝̠̥̠͓̻̻͓̘̈̐͊̽͌̐̾̉̆̊̐̈́̀̓̋̿͑̇̈́͑̈́̕͝į̵̰͉͓̭̙͉̭̠͉̭͇̯̖̯̯̤̝̝͍͎͖̦̣̝̬̫͈̙̋̎̾̌͑͋͛̐͛̄̈̍̀͗̇͒̏́̀͋͠͝l̷̢̺̱̠̞̠̩̼͓̩̦̜̗͓̞̦̖̰̟̣̱̪̜͖͎̗̰̣̤̺͋̈̎̑̒̔̂̍͒̅͑̅̓͂̍̓͛̈́̅̐̓͌̔̄̚͝͠͠͝ĺ̵̢̥̮͚̭̱̣̫͚̘̖͕̪̱̾͋̓̔ ̷̡̥̤͚̳̤̱̖̙̲͇͔̙̼̲̖͚̆͊̂̃͑̅̋̾̎̋͆̉̒̈́̉̏̒͆̇͒̓̕͝ͅţ̴̨̨̛̰̯̬̤̫̘̟̞̞̺̻̪̺̮̹̪̞̩͚̖̹̪͍̜̜̜̞̲̾̈́̿̽͛̏̈́͛́̑̿̋͆͐͋̈́̂̓̈́̌͘͝h̴̻̲̠̺̠̘̯̠̬̙̜̰̹̯̤̪̰̙̮̦̞̤͕̲̣͓̼̩͛̆̄̈̒̀̀͗̌̏͂̃̈́̕̚̕͜͝ȅ̷̩͙͓̤͂͑͒͛̏̄̈̈͗̃͗̓̈̿̏̊͘͠ ̵̧̢̡̢͕̼͍͓̩̮̙̪̣̙̹͉̩͚̦̺̳͖̩͔̤̾̊̓͛̅͜͝à̷̡̡̨̡̡̧͉͇̮̹̱̤̲̪̟͔̞̪͍̟͇̦̖̗͉͇͇̣̞̤́b̷̨̨̛͙̘̣̘̦̋͆̅̌̆͛͆̄̅̆͘̕͠o̴̟͓̱̮̍̏̉̒̑̈̇̂͊̿͗͛̚m̷̢̡̧̨̨̡̰͇͉̞̻̞͖̻̺͍͎̦̳̥̜̲̖̜̲͚̞̳͙̭̐̈́̄̃͑̎̚͜͠ḯ̵̧̛̖̳̗͖̫̬̟̹̎́̈̔͌͌͆̅̈́̈́̑̓̆͌̓́̑͘̕͝n̷̟̪͕̭͋͑́̈̋ȃ̶̛̤͔̤̮̣̫̣̳͗̈́̔̀̋̾́̽ţ̵̨̳̣͉̮͓̻̯̞̭̩͕̠̪̺̙͇̠̻̫̰͎͍̈́̽̊͐͛̋̍̌͋͆́̍͊̃͗̂̕̕͝ͅͅi̴̛̬͓̩̯̝̲̱͍͍̩͗́͗̀̑́̆͑̄̽̿̐̕͜͠o̷͎̰̬̫̥̩͖̭̼͎̙̥̭̹̲̲̬̱͂̆͂̒̎̾̈́͛͌̀̀̊͒́͆̓́̃͂̑̈́͊̕͘͜͠͝͝n̶̢̨͙̝̻̦͎̞̖͈͕͕̹͉̣̭͒́͐́͐̐̓̃̀͑̀̋̈̄́̃̏̾͋͐̂̆̂͑͘̕͘̚͘͝ͅ!̶̢̯͔̙̮̞̤͓̬̙͉͈͙̻̹̬͓͖̼̟̪̹̪̖̦̠͌̈̀͑̊̍̒̓͊͒̅̀̎̇̒͐̕͜͝ͅ_**

**_)_**

**_)_**

**_)_**

Another one of the incomprehensible thoughts exploded through his mind, as impossible to understand as the first. But this one was much closer, much louder, so to speak. With it came a sudden almost primal urge to bite down on M'rissi's neck and rip or jerk it in any way that would be fatal to the small woman.

William jumped at the suddenness of the urge, shocked by it. He backpedaled several feet from the tent, his heart and breath racing. No matter how much he had fought the urge, he had let out a vicious growl in her ear.

_What in oblivion was that!? I'd never hurt her! Yeah, she has an odd way of showing it, but she really seems like a kind and decent person! I could never willingly hurt her!_ As he watched her, she groggily opened her eyes, looking up at him with a mild amount of confusion visible on her face.

**_L̷͖̠̼̼̐̒i̷̧͍͑͜e̵͙͇̕̚s̷͓̰͙̽!̵̝́ ̷̧̈́́ͅD̵̛̼̥͋̌Ȩ̴̲̙̘́̉̓̔S̸̡̠͇̝̉̏Ṯ̷̨̯̥͛̈́̊͠Ṙ̷̤̈̎͝ͅỎ̸̼̺̠̽̓Y̵͙̎ͅ ̴̝͔̣̓̿̏Ị̷̛̬̍T̸͕͆̊̌ ̵̤͌̓̀͝Ǹ̵̟̦O̵̦̹̿Ŵ̷̭̌̒̃!̶̢͉̳̀̆̌͗_**

Where all of the other strange voices had been totally incoherent, this one was scathingly loud, as though someone had shouted directly into his ear. With that volume came the ability for William to understand it. It's short message chilled him to the bone, his body lowering itself and preparing to pounce on it's own. With that lowered stance came a low growl, William not trying to stop himself in his shocked state.

"WOLF!" M'rissi let out a terrified scream from the lean-to, the sound of her small dagger slipping from its scabbard reaching William's ears. She was scrambling out from under the lean-to, raising the weapon to protect herself from William.

_What!? No! I will not hurt her!_ His body tried to rush forward and attack her in that moment, but he used every ounce of his will to stop himself, managing to take a couple of steps back from her.

"G-go-go away!" she shouted again, brandishing the dagger at him.

_I should go… _it took almost every ounce of mental fortitude to turn and run away from her. Once he managed it though, his feet seemed to naturally move for him, expertly and smoothly dodging every root and bush despite the speed he was moving at. After only moments, he slowed to a stop, standing back onto his feet as the chill of the air bit at his face. The once vivid and easy sight he had quickly vanished, barely able to make out the trees around him.

_"Ranger!"_ he heard that shout behind him, feint yet easily recognized as Max.

_Huh… guess I should head back now. This has been a weird dream…_ he shrugged as he began to make his way back to the clearing, forced to move at a much slower and more deliberate pace this time.


	7. Bleak Fall's Barrow

_**well, here's another chapter. hopefully wont take as long to get the next chapter out as it did for this one, but eh, who knows?**_

* * *

Max shivered as he stared up at the massive stone structure of the barrow, half obscured by a swirling snowstorm. In particular, he was watching the torch wielding people patrolling it from an out cropping of rocks. They were well above the snow and treeline now, and he was utterly freezing. If it wasn't for the obvious people at the barrow, he would have been using magic to summon forth flames by now. M'rissi was beside him, shivering uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. Ranger though seemed hardly affected by the cold at all.

"Well, what should we do?" Max watched his breath turn into mist before him as he spoke, still watching the patrolling people.

"I could get closer. Give us a better idea what we are looking at. Bandits are my best guess. Someone did rob the general store in Riverwood and headed up here." Ranger spoke calmly and evenly, Max glancing his way to see his eyes flicking all across the structure.

"What if they spot you?"

"They won't."

"You're wearing a green cloak in snow."

"They won't." Ranger responded with the exact same words, more firmly now as he grabbed the clasp for his cloak. The air around his hand seemed to bend and swirl for several moments before the cloak suddenly changed colors, matching the rocks behind him perfectly.

"Okay. Point taken."

"Whatever we do, make it quick. M'rissi is freezing out here! She thinks her tail might fall off soon!" Max smirked at M'rissi, the girl having buried herself in the hood of her fur coat. Of course, it wasn't much of a coat, as it had no armpits and only covered her upper arms and body, her lower arms and legs still exposed. Until a few minutes ago, she had been using a blanket to help ward off the cold until they had seen the sentries.

Ranger slipped out of the rocks, his cloak melding and changing with the terrain, nothing like the invisibility spell Max had seen in the past. Invisibility spells tended to make the object under them shimmer like water or glass. His cloak, though it was shifting colors, was still visibly there, it just made him blend into the terrain perfectly. It likely wouldn't have worked indoors, but within him leaving a few paces from them, Max had already lost track of him.

_Hmm, neat trick with the cloak. I wonder how it works… is it a spell he cast or an enchantment on the cloak? _He shrugged as he let his attention return to the sentries, watching them patiently as M'rissi chattered away beside him. Several minutes passed, but sure enough, Ranger seemed to materialize out of the snow a few dozen paces away, Max nearly drawing his blade upon seeing him.

"Five total, definitely bandits. Two archers up near the door, one mace and shield guarding the main stairs, one with a long sword and one with a spear roaming. Overheard them talking about more inside." He sat back down beside Max as he spoke, his bow resting in his lap.

"Archers would be tricky to deal with head on. I could take at least one guard on by myself but three with archers? I think we're screwed."

"Directly sure. Think you could strike up a conversation? Get the melee fighters near you?" Ranger responded as calmly as he had been, his eyes fixed on Max.

"Sure, but what good will that do us? I can't take on three people at once. Not without some sort of back up."

"I'll take M'ri up there under my cloak, the snowdrifts made a path that I can get up on the structure behind the archers with, if we're careful. Once you have their attention, we could take out the archers quietly, then take out one or two of the melee fighters from afar before they even know what's going on." His voice was still eerily calm and even, never once wavering.

"Would work by me, if you think you two can really get up there before they gut me like a fish."

"M'ri, are you up for this?" Ranger shifted his attention to the half-Kajiit who was still shivering madly.

"i-is it w-warrmerrr under-rr your cloak than out herrre?" she stuttered that out, her teeth still chattering.

"Eh, a little."

"Then what are we waiting forrr!"

"Well, let's get going then. Wish me luck!" Max let out a soft chuckle, making sure his heater shield was still snuggly lashed onto his forearm before he stood and started fromping through the thick snow toward the ruins. He wanted desperately to see if Ranger and M'rissi were moving yet but that would have meant looking back and potentially giving them away.

"We got someone coming!" one of the bandit sentries shouted that out, the bandits rushing toward him from their locations. Even the two archers moved down the stairs from the main entrance.

"Hello! I saw your torches and thought I might wait out this storm with you all!" he shouted that back to them as he stopped at the edge to the first flight of stairs leading up to the structure. The three melee fighters, equipped exactly as Ranger had said they would be, arrayed themselves on the stairs, weapons at the ready. The bandit with the shield and mace took front and center, smirking at Max.

"Now why would we do that? We don't know ye! Ye could be a bandit for all we know!" his was smirking deviously as he spoke, one of the other bandits chuckling.

"Well, I don't have any gold, but I have some mead I could share! Make the time go faster at least!"

"Or we could just kill you and take all your stuff. No one would even know up here. And that's a mighty nice shield ya got there!" as the bandit spoke, Max spotted M'rissi seemingly appearing from nowhere up near the main entrance, her bow in hand and an arrow nocked. If he squinted, he could faintly see Ranger's own longbow, already raised with an arrow nocked.

"Well, that's not very nice of you!" he tried to buy them a few more seconds of calm, seeing one of the archers, a female, nocking her own arrow. There was a flash of movement before an arrow ripped through the back of the woman's throat, any noise she might have vocally made lost to the wind. Her body clattering down the stairs on the other hand caused one of the melee fighters to begin turning. A moment later, the second archer had an arrow buried in his back, screaming out in pain.

In that instant, Max sprang forward, his blade slithering from it's scabbard as he shield rammed the mace wielder, the startled Nord unable to react as he tried to process both sudden threats at once. Max easily drove him to the ground and jabbed his sword into his chest, the man screaming out. The spear wielding woman to his left moved to engage Max, but an arrow buried itself in her shoulder before she could.

The last melee fighter instead turned his attention up the stairs to Ranger and M'rissi, managing to swat the arrow fired at him aside with his blade, the shaft disappearing into the snow. But that gave Max an opening to slash the back of the man's knee. As soon as the man was on his knees, screaming in pain, Max rammed the blade through his throat, silencing him. With him down, Max quickly and easily silenced the other two bandits, Ranger doing the same up on the stairs with the archer M'rissi shot.

"Well, that went smoother than I expected. We should take any coins on them and get inside."

"Are you really thinking about looting them!?" Max immediately retorted with that, stunned by how calmly Ranger had shouted that down to him, already searching the male archer's body.

"Yes. They won't need any septims where they are going, and would have done the same to us. And it helps us stay alive. It's just the way the world is." Ranger was again calm, lightly tossing a coin purse before he dropped it into his satchel, M'rissi already looting the female archer.

"Alright, fine…" Max sighed as he followed suit with the corpses around him, not particularly happy with what he was doing.

* * *

_Can She just go back under Ranger's cloak? It was warm under there…_ M'rissi shivered in the cold wind, feeling almost as though she had frozen solid. Every inch of her had ice crystals freezing her fur together, only to be melted and refrozen by her body heat and the wind. The trio had made their way up the stairs to the entrance of the barrow.

"Alright, as soon as we open this door, they will know we are here. I think our best bet is if you and me rush in and tie down any bandits inside, while M'rissi stays back and takes any shots she can with her bow. Sound like a plan Ranger?" Max spoke shakily to Ranger, though M'rissi couldn't tell if it was from the cold or fear.

"Yeah, sounds reasonable. I'll take right." Ranger responded as he slung his bow over his shoulder, his own blade singing out of its scabbard.

M'rissi got behind the two of them, who were placing themselves on each of the barrow's double doors. Once positioned, she nocked an arrow to her bow, the trio exchanging a nod. Immediately after, Ranger and Max rammed the doors open, rushing into the building. As soon as the doors had opened, warm air blasted out, M'rissi hesitating as she enjoyed the sudden warmth. That hesitation was only for a fleeting moment as she rushed after them.

There were only two bandits inside, near the back of the large entry hall. Both looked up when the door opened, startled. M'rissi didn't waste a breath, raising the bow and drawing back on the string. The motion felt extremely natural and practiced to her, something that had startled her the first time she had shot a bow. It felt so… _familiar_ that there was no doubt she had known how to shoot a bow before losing her memory. As she let her breath out, the she let the string slip from her fingers, the arrow leaping across the room and burying itself in the female of the two bandit's chest, the woman dropping to the floor instantly.

The male of the pair managed to draw his sword, but it was already too late for him. Max and Ranger reached him at the same time, Max using his shield to deflect the nord's attack away while Ranger slid his blade across the nord's throat, opening it in an instant. The nord dropped his blade, stumbling for a moment as he tried to stem the flow of blood from his throat to no avail, just before collapsing.

"Alright, from here forward, M'rissi, watch our rear, Max, take front. If the halls are big enough, I'll move abreast with you. If not, I'll switch back to my bow and be ready to shoot by you." Ranger spoke as he cleaned his blade, sliding it away.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll keep watch while you two search these two." Max walked to the back of the room as he spoke, his focus on the hallway entrance back there.

It didn't take long to take the gold pouches from the two bandits, M'rissi's satchel already considerably heavier. Once they were finished, they moved to Max, a simple nod sending them down into the winding corridors of the barrow. The whole building had an eerie air to it, as though there was a sort of static in the air. All of her fur was standing on end, sending uncomfortable tingling sensations throughout her body, especially where she was wearing clothing.

"M'rissi doesn't like it here… the air feels… wrong." M'rissi shuddered, despite the fact that was warm enough in here for puddles of water to be on the floor.

"Always does in these old tombs. Dad always said it was because of the embalming agents used in ancient times. Keep in mind, the less we disturb the ruin, the less likely the daugr will awaken. If they do, destroy the head. Either cut it off or smash it. Arrow _might_ work." Ranger spoke very quietly, M'rissi seeing him stepping very gingerly as he slipped his bow from his back, the corridor thin enough that Max could block most of it.

"Alright. Sounds good." Max voice shook slightly as the trio continued down the path, leading deeper and deeper into the mountain.

M'rissi quivered as she walked behind Ranger, fighting to control her breaths as she routinely glanced back behind them. A strange hollow sound registered in their ears, like a breath forced out of massive lungs, the air in the hallway shifting toward them. M'rissi let out a yelp, nearly dropping her bow to wrap her arms around one of Ranger's.

"Uhhh, M'rissi? It was just a noise…" Ranger had an amused tint to his voice, M'rissi unable to not glance at his eyes. Not that she could see them in this light.

"S-Shut up! She thought you might fall over from fright!" She snapped that back as she let go of him, stepping back from him.

"Whatever you say fluffbut." Ranger's hooded shifted back and forth as he shook his head, the trio beginning to move on.

_"HELP! SOMEBODY, GET ME AWAY FROM THIS THING!"_ a screaming voice echoed back to them before they could travel more than ten feet. The trio exchanged a glance before they took off at a sprint through the halls. After only moments, the stone floor started to become covered with thick, sticky webs, M'rissi feeling it tugging at her boots with every step. Ahead of them, the hallway was totally occluded by the white webs, the trio slowing to a stop.

"Just cut through it Max." Ranger spoke quickly, and surprisingly calmly. If M'rissi had tried saying anything, she would have been stuttering every word.

"Better idea." Max spoke as he released the grip on his shield, the shield twisting on its forearms straps as he held his open palm toward the webs. A moment later, flames leapt from his hand, burning the webs out of existence. As soon as he was finished, he returned his grip and rushed past.

The other side of the webbing was another larger chamber, looking like a portion of the tunnels had collapsed. Every inch of the walls was covered in webbing, several corpse sized bundles hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a massive spider, larger than a bear. _Wh-what is tha-tt!_

M'rissi took a step back from the massive insect, her eyes wide in fright. Neither Ranger or Max stopped, Ranger drawing his bow and loosing an arrow straight into the spider's eye. A strange shrill squeal ripped from the spider with the wound, it staggering several steps back.

"Stay mobile, this thing can spit poison that will paralyze you!" Ranger was already stepping to the side as he shouted, Max rushing right up to the spider and swinging for its head.'

The spider skittered to the side to avoid Max's swing, unable to back up again. This caused the downward swing to slice a leg clean off, the creature squealing again. Max didn't miss a beat, holding his shield hand out as he had earlier, fire spewing forth and burning the thick hairs off the spider's body. A second arrow plunged into the creature's head from Ranger's bow, the spider trying to scrabble away from the flames as it shook it's head in pain.

_M'rissi can't just stand here! She has to fight it too!_ M'rissi nocked her own arrow, drawing and loosing it in one smooth motion. It snapped from her bow and plunged into the creature's massive thorax, even it's fletching disappearing inside. The creature's screams intensified from the shot as strange blue hued fluid spurted out of the wound.

"Nice shot M'rissi! Ranger, I'll keep it on the run, you see if you can't kill it!" Max shouted as he pressed after the spider, still spewing flames from his hand.

M'rissi prepped and fired another arrow as Ranger slung his bow, his sword singing out from its scabbard once more. The spider was skittering around the edge of the chamber, it's back legs actually scrabbling along the wall. Her second arrow had disappeared into the spider's thorax, just like the first.

Ranger though, ran for the wall the spider was scrabbling across, jumping at the wall ahead of the spider. As soon as he hit the wall, he pushed off it in a second jump, more for the spider now. This caused him to land on top of the spider, Ranger ramming his blade into the spider's thorax and forcing the blade back and forth. The creatures scream intensified before it collapsed, it's blood and guts leaking from the massive wound Ranger had opened in it.

"Damn! This is one of the largest Frostbite spiders I've ever seen…" Ranger sounded shocked as he slipped off the corpse, walking back toward Max as he tried to clean his blade.

"How big do they normally get?" Max flipping his sword in his hand and setting the point in the ground, panting slightly.

"Maybe a large dog at the biggest. Occasionally a little bigger. They don't normally live lo-"

"RANGER!" M'rissi screamed in a panic as she saw the spider try to lunge for Ranger, guts and gore sloshing from its thorax.

Max was quick to respond though, dropping his blade entirely to grab Ranger's collar and drag Ranger behind him before ramming the bottom point of his shield onto the spider's head, forcing it to the ground as he crushed it. Its legs squirmed and shook for several moments as he repeated his strike several times, slowly crushing the head more and more until it cracked open, grey tissue spurting out the sides. With that, the legs stopped squirming, simply twitching incessantly.

"By the nine that was close… Thanks Max…" Ranger took several visibly shaky breaths.

"O'course Ranger." Max immediately responded, the pair both breathing like racehorses.

"I-Is it dead!? By Akatosh… Quick, cut me down from here!" M'rissi looked to the sound of the voice, finding a dark elf struggling against webbing he was enthralled in. he had a blade in hand, but it was clear he couldn't even think to cut anything with it, the blade so covered in webbing that he couldn't move it. "Come on! Don't just stand there! I know the secret to this tomb, the door, how to unlock it, the treasure! I'll share it with all of you if you just cut me down!" the man shouted again, his voice dripping with venom and impatience.

"Alright, just give me a sec, calm down." Max spoke as he moved to retrieve his blade, having to give it a visibly hefty tug to get it free of the webbing. Even free of the floor, it was covered in wispy webs. "Well, I don't think I can just cut you free. This stuff sticks like nobody's business…"

He stared at his blade for several moments before closing his eyes. He took several deep breaths before flames suddenly enthralled his blade, burning away the webs. "There, this should do the trick."

"Hmm. Creative. I like it." Ranger spoke up from beside Max as the pair began to make their way toward the dark elf. M'rissi moved a little closer herself, but stayed back, her instincts screaming for her to be wary of the man. Just for good measure, she pulled another arrow from her quiver and left it nocked to her string, ready to be drawn and loosed in a flash.

Several swift cuts later, the elf fell out of the webs, his weapon left stuck. He was still covered in webs but was now able to move. "Thank you! I can't believe I was nearly eaten by that thing." He stood as he spoke, trying to clear as many webs from him as he could, but the more he tugged and pulled the, more the stuff was simply moved elsewhere before he gave up.

"No problem. Where are we going from here? We really only want one thing from this place." Max was calm and friendly with his words.

"Through the webs I was just stuck in! there's a path through there! Damn spider knocked me into the web before I could fight it then shat that web all over me!"

"Spiderweb isn't spider shit. Spider shit smells a lot worse." Ranger boredly mentioned that, seeming calm, but M'rissi could still see his slightly lowered and ready stance.

"Well, guess I gotta keep cutting." Max shrugged as he got to work, slowly burning and cutting his way through the webbing.

* * *

Max followed the bandit, eyeing him suspiciously. He knew the man was affiliated with the bandits they had been fighting earlier but was content to just let him lead the way. That said, he was keeping himself ready for any sudden action on the bandit's part. The bandit had been chattering almost ceaselessly, his eyes darting around like crazy. He was clearly waiting for a moment to get away from them or stab them in the back.

Ranger stepped up beside Max as they walked, gently bumping his elbow before gesturing at the bandit's waistline. Specifically, the golden ornamental claw hanging there. He curtly nodded back to Ranger in acknowledgement, Ranger falling further back once more.

"So… what's the shiny claw for?" Max calmly said that, shocked at how non-chalant it was.

"O-Oh, that? I-it's just a good luck charm I carry! Nothing important!" as he spoke, they were entering another long chamber. The strange smell Max had noticed when they first entered was now overpowering, the walls lined with alcoves. Each alcove had the dried out husk of a body, some in full rusted armor, some completely wrapped in linens.

_I do not like the look of this place… never liked the ideas of crypts in the first place, actually able to **see** the bodies is definitely worse…_ his eyes were so focused on the corpses that he only caught what the bandit was doing out of the corner of his eyes, the man grabbing one of the small urns and chucking it at the wall.

"As if I would ever share the treasure with any of you! Have fun with these draugr!" the bandit cackled as he took off running, Max stepping to follow him.

"Leave it Max! Bigger problems!" Ranger shouted at him, Max hearing both Ranger's and M'rissi's bows thrumming. All around him, the corpses were rolling out of the alcoves, drawing blades and axes. Their eyes glowed a brilliant blue as each corpse creaked to it's feet. One corpse was still in it's alcove, one of Ranger's arrows through the side of it's head. Another had an arrow sticking from the chest. There had to be at least a dozen of the corpses that had awoken, many others still in their alcoves.

His gut lurched as he quickly rushed to the two of them, the trio back pedaling into the hallway. Ranger and M'rissi loosed more arrows past him as they backed into the hallway. M'rissi missed, and Ranger's arrow tore a jaw off one of the corpses, but neither stopped one.

_This is bad… _Max couldn't help that thought, doing everything he could to not panic. They were up against nearly a dozen undead after all.

A series of screams rang out ahead of them, along with the sickly sounds of blades ripping through flesh as the bandit somewhere out of their line of sight screamed for help and mercy. His screams eventually fell off, almost certainly dead.

Meanwhile, the closest corpse to Max took a swing with its axe, Max deflecting the attack into the wall with his shield as he stabbed his blade through it's neck. He felt the spine sever from the strike, the blue glow of its eyes dropping away as he yanked the blade free. _Alright, that worked…_

"Max, down!" Ranger's shout caused him to drop to a knee, a pair of arrows whipping over his head a moment later. This time, both arrows plunged cleanly into draugr, one straight into a draugr's forehead, the other into one's throat. The one with the arrow in the throat wasn't fazed by the arrow, the other dropping like a sack.

"M'rissi! You gotta hit high head! Just hitting the jaw won't stop it!" Ranger's voice was still calm, clear and easy to hear. Despite his youth, his calmness in tense situations belied a level of experience surpassing Max's own.

"Sh-She's trying!" M'rissi's voice on the other hand was shaky and screechy, the girl clearly terrified. She was acting despite it though, something Max respected full heartedly.

Max rose back up, shield forward and ready to block any attacks. The draugr were being forced into pairs to try and attack them in the hallway, Max mentally thanking whatever divine had allowed all three of them to remember this plan of theirs. The next two draugr were both wielding blades. Max was unable to really counter either of them, blocking their swings with his sword and shield before scampering further back. In doing so, he had forgotten about the steps behind him, his heel painfully slamming into one and causing him to fall to his rump. In almost perfect harmony, two arrows ripped over his head, dropping the two draugr.

"Come on Max, we're counting on you!" Ranger yanked Max to his feet by the collar of his vest, Max immediately getting ready for another attack.

The draugr's certainly didn't disappoint, a draugr with a two handed axe swinging wildly for his shield. It slammed into him with enough force that he was slammed into the wall. The draugr was an adept enough fighter that it was already preparing a second swing, aiming for Max's exposed head. Max's heart leapt into his throat as he panicked, barely bringing his shield up in time. The impact shook all the way down his body from his arm, pain lighting up across his forearm. He could see the axe just an inch or so above his scalp, having clanged into the wall and broke a chunk out of the stone.

Max heard the thrum of a bow a moment later, the draugr beginning to fall back as he sprang to his feet, trying to be ready for the next one once more. The falling draugr hit the draugr behind it, the second draugr trying to shove past the corpse. Max used the moment to line up a beautiful slice through the draugr's throat, cleaving the head off. Without missing a step, he rushed forward to slam his shield into the next draugr and jam it into the wall. At the same time, he deflected a thrust from another draugr's sword, swiveling his blade around as the draugr's shoved on his cross guard to try to slice that draugr's head off. His blade was stopped in that draugr's spine, but the corpse fell still. Its weight ripped his sword from his hand, Max mentally cursing. Arrows ripped by on either side of his head, one into the draugr he pinned, the other into the remaining three. Both found the draugr's skulls and killed them, Max dancing back as he prepared to fight with only his shield.

"Two more, don't miss M'rissi!" Ranger called out, Max taking that as his cue to crouch. He was right in doing so, as a moment later, two more arrows ripped overhead, dropping the two draugr. "Get your sword Max. There is going to be more ahead." Though Ranger sounded calm, one glance at him showed how badly he was shaking. M'rissi was even worse beside him. Of course, he himself was trembling from both fear and pain.

"Ye-Yeah… okay…" Max took a deep breath before ripping his blade free of the draugr. He cautiously moved forward through the chamber, trying to step quietly to keep from disturbing any more of the corpses. The hall straight ahead that the bandit had disappeared beyond veered to the right, Max readying his shield and resting his blade atop it as he moved around the corner.

The sight on the other side made bile rush up into Max's throat, burning at the back of his throat as he did his best to keep it there. The bandit was literally in several different pieces, seemingly every drop of blood that should have been in his body spattered across the walls. Around him were four draugr, not one reacting to Max despite staring straight at him.

Max took another shaky deep breath as he edged forward, hearing Ranger and M'rissi's bows draw back. "Ready back there?"

"Yes." With Ranger's one worded whisper, Max dropped to a knee again, arrow's lancing into two of the draugr. They both collapsed, Max launching forward. One of the draugr never had a chance to react, Max's blade smashing into its exposed head. The issue was, his poorly aimed strike meant his blade was now lodged in the draugr's skull. Thinking quickly, he moved to kick out the knee of the other draugr with his dominant foot. This forced him to pivot on his non-dominant foot, his boot losing traction in the slick blood he was now standing in.

Pain howled through his body from the harsh drop, knocking his breath away. In spite of that, he continued his momentum for the kick straight into the back of the draugr's knee. It dropped the draugr to its other knee, knocking all of the power out of the draugr's return swing. Even so, the blade slammed down on his side, stopping on his chainmail vest. He had barely moved his unarmored arm out of the way in time. A moment later, a hunting knife slammed into the draugr's head, sinking down to the hilt as the draugr fell to the ground.

Max's heart raced as he searched his aching side for any sign of damage, only feeling some sharp aches. Though his vest had a cut in it, the chainmail beneath had held, Max breathing a sigh of relief.

"You alright Max?" Ranger spoke as he walked over the body parts, yanking the hunting knife from the draugr's head.

"Yeah, surprisingly." He gingerly got up as he spoke, realizing his whole back and side were now coated in blood, shivering at the thought.

"C-Can w-we ke-ep goi-ing please? M'rissi does not like this…" she gulped several times as she skittered around the mess, her eyes averted.

"Yeah, lets." Max yanked his blade free before grabbing the now blood covered claw off the remains.

The chamber they were in had four sarcophaguses in the first portion of it, the lids on the floor in front of them and empty. The rest of the room was a pair of long murals leading to a strange door. The center of the door had a single round plinth, a molded shape much like the claw in Max's hand. Above it was a series of six rings, covered in small glyphs depicting animals and items alike.

"Well now what?" Max stared at the door having no idea what to do. He figured it had something to do with the claw in his hand, given the imprint in the center.

"I have no idea. I've never seen one of these before…" Ranger gently pushed on one of the rings, able to rotate it.

Max dropped his eyes to the claw once more, turning it over in his hand several times to see a series of disks along the palm. In each disk was a glyph, seeing matching glyphs on the door. "I think I have it…"

"Really? Knowing the ancient Nords, this thing has some sort of trap if you screw up…" Ranger gave max a concerned look as he spoke, his face lit up by the strange natural light of the chamber.

"I think." Max spoke as he began turning the rings to match the symbols. Once he was done, he stepped back from the door and waited, biting his lip.

"nothing's happening…" M'rissi's voice echoed slightly in the room, Max not even glancing at her.

"Try putting the claw in that plinth. It looks like it _could_ move." Ranger gestured at the circle in the center.

"Well, worth a shot…" he gulped, taking one more look at the claw before pressing it into the plinth. The plinth sunk into the door, Max feeling it turn slightly on a track before dust rumbled off the door. He barely managed to pull the claw away before the door dropped into the floor, exposing a massive natural cave behind it. As soon as the door opened, a strange rhythmic chanting echoed at Max from the far side of the chamber.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one that hears that chanting…" Max muttered that to himself as he stepped over the threshold, feeling Ranger take the claw from him.

"Chanting? M'rissi doesn't hear any chanting…"

"Me neither Max. are you sure you didn't get hit in the head?" Ranger's question earned him a glare from Max before the trio pressed into the room. The closer they got to the back wall, the more the chanting seemed to get louder and louder, resonating across the entire chamber. Past a small natural underground spring was a raised platform, a single extremely ornate sarcophagus on it. Beyond that sarcophagus was a carved curved wall in the cave wall, words written all over it. One of the foreign words seemed to be glowing to Max.

"Alright. We're looking for that dragon stone. I hope it's actually here… or that we haven't missed it some how." He gulped once more as they approached, his eyes fixed to the glowing word. The other two split away from him, as he walked by the sarcophagus to the wall, feeling simply _drawn_ to the wall. As he got closer, the word glowed more and more vibrantly, the chanting increasing to an ear splitting roar. Suddenly, light spilled from the word in the wall, spiraling toward him. He let out a startled scream, trying to hide behind his shield. But he found himself unharmed. If anything, his aches and pains seemed to fade away, a sort of warmth he couldn't describe filling him.

_What in oblivion is this!?_

"Max!" he glanced over as Ranger rushed almost to him, a panicked expression on his face. He could hear M'rissi on Max's other side as well. "A whole bunch of light just ripped out of that wall and into you… you're kinda glowing now!"

"You could see that too?" as he responded, he realized the chanting had stopped, the word no longer glowing. A few moments later, his skin stopped glowing as well, the warmth falling away.

"Yeah… you feel alright, you look normal now." Ranger crept closer to Max, visibly inspecting him.

"I feel fine. Bett-" Max didn't get to finish, hearing the lid of the sarcophagus crash off. Stunned he turned back to face it to see a draugr in ornate armor clamber out. It's eyes seemed to glow with an insane intensity that he had never seen before, like a pair of brilliant blue flames.

_"Fus-Ro-Daaaa!"_ the draugr screamed at them, energy visibly rocketing out of its mouth and slamming into them. The energy lifted Max off his feet and slammed him into the stone wall. Pain ripped across his body, his world going black for a split moment as his head struck the stone. But it was only a moment, as he retched them open to find himself on his side, the draugr having taken only a step toward them.

He scrambled to his feet, readying his sword as he heard Ranger do the same. "You good Ranger?"

"No. I think my wrist is broken. Have to fight lefty right now…" he could hear the pain in Ranger's words, glancing his way.

"M'rissi?" Max called that out as he glanced her way, seeing her still in a crumpled heap against the wall.

_Crap! She's down! Talos, please don't let her be dead!_ Max immediately shifted himself between the draugr and M'rissi. _Ranger's hurt, M'rissi's down… I need to kill this thing myself…_

"Max! I need to see if M'rissi is still alive! Think you can handle it alone for a moment?"

_Figures he would be thinking the same as me…_

"Yeah, I got this, check on her." As he finished, he rushed forward, the draugr swinging at him with its sword. Max braced himself for a moment, feeling the sword strike his shield. The moment it touched the blade, ice exploded onto his shield, tripling it's weight and causing the steel to feel like it was burning his skin it was so cold. He screamed out as he danced back, the draugr visibly grinning as it creaked calmly forward.

Max dropped his sword as he undid the clasps for his shield's straps, feeling it rip skin from his hand where he gripped it as he dropped the steel. He cried out from the pain, looking up to see the draugr upon him again, swinging for him.

Ranger was between him and the draugr before it could strike, blocking with his blade. Ice coated the blade as Ranger stepped to the side, shoving the draugr's blade away while rotating his own point toward its throat. The counter was a success, slamming into the draugr's throat, but the ice build up along the blade made his blade about as sharp as a stick. All the blow did was stagger the draugr a few steps away.

"Max, do that thing with the fire! Might be our on-"

_"Fus-Ro-Daa!"_ Ranger didn't get the chance to finish, as the draugr turned back to them and shouted again, Max barely diving to the side. Ranger was hit full force by the energy, sending him flying into the wall off the raised dais, splashing into the stream.

Max scrambled back to his blade and scooped it off the floor, ignoring his ice covered shield for the moment. As soon as he had his blade, he poured his magicka into his makeshift spell to wreath his blade in flame. The flames flashed into existence around the blade of his sword, almost blinding him as he advanced on the draugr. His right hand burned from the flames on his blade as his left burned from gripping the hilt with skin missing, but he grit his teeth against the pain, watching the draugr carefully.

The draugr cocked its head at the flaming blade for a moment before lunging forward, thrusting at Max. Max moved to knock the sword away and counter, but found his blade striking nothing. The draugr had turned the thrust into an over head chop, Max narrowly bringing his blade horizontal to block it. The force of the strike made him lose footing, dropping to a knee. Steam exploded from his blade as ice tried to form on it, his fire instantly burning it away. That steam blasted the draugr back from him, and clear of any counter he could have performed. _This is going nowhere! I gotta find a way to beat this thing!_

Max slipped back onto his feet as he circled the draugr slightly, trying to keep himself between the draugr and M'rissi. His attention was so focused on the draugr that he didn't see Ranger rushing back into the fight until the draugr was blocking his attack. Ranger managed to force the draugr's blade out of the way and jam it to the ground, but it put his blade virtually behind him. If he were to break the lock in any way, the draugr could have easily slid the blade across Ranger, and likely killed him. That's when Ranger slammed the back of his injured hand into the draugr's face, staggering it as he shrieked in pain.

Max leapt forward at the opportunity, bringing his own blade down in a murderous downward swing for its head. At the same time, he funneled every last ounce of his magicka into the flames surrounding his blade, the fire intensifying tenfold before it slammed into the draugr's helmet. It cleaved clean through, the flames melting the steel and burning away the flesh like butter and paper. Its head was completely pulverized as it staggered back, just before falling to the ground.

Panting, Max released the flamed on his blade, the steel glowing red as the tip of the blade slowly drooped to the ground. Cursing, he dropped the ruined sword, trying to shake the burning pain out of his hand, able to feel the burns on it from the flames. "Fuck! I can't believe that worked!"

"Me either…" Ranger groaned that out as he stood up, clutching his wrist.

"I'm going to do one more check for the dragon stone. I'm out of magicka so I can't heal your wrist right now. Sorry." Max gave Ranger an apologetic look, sincerely wishing he could help Ranger. The boy's face was contorted in pain as he clutched at his injured wrist.

"It's alright. I'm going to check on M'rissi. I really hope her neck isn't broken…" his voice was strained and forced as he staggered toward her crumpled form.

Max let out a sigh before moving to the sarcophagus, looking into it to nearly scream out in victory. Lying inside was a stone tablet identical to what was in the sketch he had, Max letting out a sigh of relief as he moved to pick it up.

"M'rissi is alive still Max." Ranger's words behind him drove away the last little bit of anxiety in his system, nearly collapsing right there from the relief.

"Good. I have the Dragonstone too. Let's get out of the damned cave…"


	8. The Dragonborn Comes

**Gah'll i can't wait to be done with all this prep work to start really altering the skyrim stuff. damn near following the game moment for moment is buggin the snot outta me. thankfully, i think i only have one chapter more that i'll be doing that to this level. from there on, i think i'm going to be taking a pretty free form approach to it, and hopefully less damn near word for word BS**

* * *

"How's the wrist Ranger?" Max spoke as he stretched in the room the trio were sharing, having arrived at Whiterun late into the night. As such, they had rented a room at the local tavern, forced to share as there had only been one available room.

"Still hurts. Don't feel any loss of motion though, so what little you could heal it last night definitely helped. I'll keep it wrapped for the next few days." Ranger responded as he wrapped his wrist in a bandage, surprisingly able to tie it tightly himself.

"Alright. Sounds good. What's your plan from here?"

"Take M'rissi to meet the Kajiit that told me about her. From there, probably Rorikstead. There's a ranger there that dad used to work with. You?"

"Turn in that dragonstone then… honestly, I don't know. This is the most money I've had in years, so I'll probably get myself a new blade, or have someone reforge this one. Then just go back to wandering as I've been. Nothing else to really do to be honest."

"Sounds fair. Well, if we ever cross paths again, I'll always be down to help you out." Ranger nodded to Max as he spoke, his attention focused almost entirely on him.

"Sounds good Ranger." Max shouldered his bag, both the ancient frostblade the draugr had been wielding and his ruined blade strapped to the backpack. "So I'll see you two around. Tell M'rissi to take care for me, and I wish her luck with her memory."

M'rissi was still soundly asleep in the room's one bed. Ranger had literally carried her the last mile last night, as she had been falling asleep as she was walking. Part of the reason Max hadn't been able to fully heal Ranger's wrist was healing M'rissi had taken almost all of the magicka he could regain over the past two days of travel. He didn't want to say it to them, but without his magic, she probably would have died before they could have gotten her anywhere. He was no expert with restoration magic, so it was only his guess but M'rissi's brain had been bleeding within her skull, his initial magic and subsequent uses stopping the bleed and alleviating pressure on her brain.

"Will do Max." Ranger gave Max a small curt nod, something about the action telling Max that for Ranger, it was a deep show of respect.

With that, Max turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. It didn't take him long to make his way through the city, only minutes passing before he was stepping into the great hall of Dragonsreach. Once inside, he proceeded straight to the court wizard's area, slinging his pack onto his desk without saying a word.

"Whoa, hey, caref- Max!? you're back earlier than I expected."

"Got some unexpected help. Here." He opened the flap of the bag and pulled the hefty chunk of stone out, handing it to the wizard. The wizard nearly dropped it when he received it, clearly not ready for the weight.

"Wow, you really came through! You are definitely cut from a different cloth than the usual brutes the Jarls sends me! Here…." He set the tablet down as he scribbled a note onto blank parchment. "Take this to the Jarl, proof that you did me a service so he will pay you!"

"Alright hope it helps you."

"Oh it undoubtably will!" The court wizard was ecstatic as he inspected the tablet, almost absently reaching for one of his drawers to pull out fresh parchment.

"Farengar! Come quick! You too Imperial!" The Jarl's Dark Elf Body guard, Irelith if Max's memory was straight, barked that out from the main hall.

Both Max and Farengar gave her puzzled looks, neither making a move to follow her. "What could possibly be so urgent that you need me Irelith? I have more than enough work to do working on this dragon ston-"

"By the Divines, forgot the stone! There was a dragon spotted at the western watchtower!" she snapped that right back.

Farengar seemed to make a total reversal, seeming to launch over the counter as he rushed after Irelith.

Max shuddered as memories of Helgan snapped through his mind, and the utter devastation that dragon had wrought. He himself wasn't too keen on seeing another one so soon. He begrudgingly followed after the pair, being led to an area that seemed more fortress than palace, behind the throne. Jarl Balgruf and an exhausted looking young guard were standing at a wooden table, a map fastened between them. The guard looked to be about to collapse.

"Good job son. This was important information. Now go down to the guard's quarters, get some food and drink and calm yourself. We'll handle it from here." He gently patted the guard's shoulder, the guard breathlessly nodding before shambling away. With the guard gone, the Jarl turned to the three of them, his expression even darker and more serious than it had been when Max first met him.

"Irelith, we need to gather a contingent of your best men to deal with this dragon. Farengar, I need tactics to fight this dragon. Once Irelith leaves with her detachment, I need you working with commander Caisis to get the guards here in town as ready as possible for a dragon attack." He was speaking rapidly, yet firmly, his years of experience and mental discipline showing why he was the Jarl of Whiterun in the first place.

"And you, boy, Max wasn't it? By you being back I assume you were able to help my court wizard… I hate to be asking this of you, but you are the only person here with first hand experience dealing with a dragon. Whiterun needs your help." His gaze shifted to Max, burning into him with an intensity rivaling the sun itself.

"All do respect my lord, but all I did was survive… the dragon in Helgan… the imperials never stood a chance against it. They couldn't even pierce it's hide." Max couldn't stop his voice from quivering. All he hoped was that his word's, as honest as they were, did nothing to piss off the Jarl.

"That's a good experience then boy. Only the survivors can fight another day. And that's how I want you to approach this Irelith. I want you, and everyone you take out there, back alive. Listen to what Max and Farengar have to say, and if their plans fail, fall back immediately."

"Yes my Jarl. Farengar?" Irelith's attention shifted almost instantly to Farengar.

"If only I could go with you… this is the chance of a lifetime! A real liv-"

"Farengar…" Irelith sounded beyond irritated with the wizard, crossing her arms at him.

"Right. Well, to be honest, most of the texts still around today on dragon's are so steeped in myths and legends that I don't feel any legitimate dragon fighting tactics can be divulged from them. The best I can say is bring the most powerful bows you can and aim for the wings. If you can bring it to the ground, you most certainly will have a better chance of defeating it." Farengar spoke quickly, his voice more excited than anything else.

"Well, it's a start. Boy, what do you have to say?"

"Well… the dragon that attacked Helgan had to fly pretty low to attack, and even then, it had trouble hitting folk from the air. It landed several times to intercept runners and kill folks. Maybe we can arrange a trap of some sort, someone plays bait, everyone else hides and waits until we can attack it. Long spears would probably be a good thing to bring. That's all I got, sorry that it's not much…" he rubbed the back of his head as he looked away from her, not feeling very confident in the odds of either hasty plan to be effective. They were taking shots in the dark really, nothing more.

"It's more to go on than we had before. Meet me at the gate's in thirty minutes, it will take us an hour to reach the western watchtower, so pack light. Only what you need." Irelith spoke calmly and evenly, nodding to Max before she strode off.

"Farengar, do you mind if I drop my stuff in your study?"

"Not at all"

Max immediately turned back the way he came, his heart already racing, his thoughts not far behind it. He gulped as he made his way through Dragonsreach, unable to rip Helgan's fire and screams from his mind.

* * *

Max hefted the spear in his hand as he hunkered behind a rock outcropping, right next to Irelith he had his shield strapped in place and ready to go as well, the Draugr Ice Blade on his hip. The watch tower was not much more than a smashed ruin now, several areas of the fields around it on fire.

"Anyone see any signs of it?" Irelith whispered that toward the group. The responses all came up negative. "Alright then, move up, and assess the damage. If you find any survivors, give a holler." She spoke as she stood and moved out from the rocks.

Max took a deep breath before he followed, watching the skies for even a hint of movement as he marched forward with the others. The group naturally spread out as they moved, several mangled and burned corpses scattered amongst the rubble.

"Quick, you all need to get out of here before that bloody dragon comes back!" the voice came from a guard, hiding in the ruins of the tower.

"Not until we have a way to fight that beast. Come back with us, we need to learn ev-" Ireliths voice was cut off by a powerful roar, vibrating even the very earth beneath their feet. One that was all too familiar to Max.

_No no no no! it's coming back!_ His eyes snapped toward the source of the sound, seeing a dark winged shape ripping across the sky from the southern mountains, quickly approaching them.

"Everyone, spread out and ready bows! When it swoops down to attack, riddle it with arrows!" Irelith was shouting in an instant, her experience shining like a brilliant flame.

Max took her shout as his own cue, running away from the group to hunker down in some of the rubble. He had no bow, so as long as it was in the air, he was useless here. As the dragon came closer, more and more detail became apparent, it's brown scales and vastly different wing and head structure being readily apparent. It was also smaller than the dragon he saw in Helgan by a fair margin. It was still the size of a house mind you, but it wasn't as massive as the black dragon had been.

_Maybe this one will actually be killable?_ He grimaced as it began to dive, just hoping he was right. Arrows ripped into the air at it, several striking… and sticking. He nearly cheered as he saw that, his cheer falling out as the dragons fire swept across the ground. Three of the twenty or so guards they brought were washed in the flames, two being literally incinerated by the fire, the third running and screaming as he continued to burn.

"Irelith! We might actually be able to beat this one! This isn't the one that leveled Helgan!" he shouted that toward her position, Irelith raising her spear in response.

A moment later, the dragon swooped back for another pass, raking the area with fire once more. _Hmph, still only a snowball's chance in that fire… but that's more of a chance than we had before! We gotta bring this thing down!_

* * *

"How's the new armor Sofia? It's not chafin ya anywhere is it?" Jorge, casually tossed that toward her as they moved up a small rise in Whiterun's plains.

"Eh, not terribly. Wish I had some under garments though! I don't mind being naked but it would be nice not to be sometimes!" she blushed slightly as she grinned. The armor she now had was taken off a bandit corpse not too dissimilar in build to her, though her bosom was considerably bigger, so it made the hide top enticingly tight. Beyond that, it was the typical scant hide armor a lot of Nords wore. Most Nords weren't bothered to much by the cold so they generally didn't wear a whole lot of layers. It was a quick way to tell Nords from other races, as the other races were always bundled up under many layers.

"Eh, lots of folk don't mind when you go naked." He smirked at her as he walked, keeping his eyes mostly on the road.

"Aye. Lot's of women folk don't like it though. Particularly the married ones!" the pair cracked up laughing at that, Jorge's grin exploding. They had already finished three different jobs for the companions now and made a fair amount of coin to boot. Sofia had proven to be as capable as she boasted, throwing flames, fireballs, lightning bolts and all manners of destructive magic like candy. She was also quite adept with a blade, holding her own should an opponent get close. They even found a decent steel blade on the first group of bandits the companions sent them after for her to wield. It was only a shorter arming sword, designed to be used alongside a large shield, but it was all she needed.

Before more could be said between the pair, an almighty roar rang across the area, echoing across the entire massive valley. It was a primal, bestial roar that Jorge immediately recognized. _That's a dragon!_

"What was that!?" Sofia, had a stunned yet curious expression on her face, the roar having no ill effect on her.

"Eh, sounds like a dragon. Could be fun to try and fell it?" he smirked at her as his hand naturally fell to his axe.

"You had me at fun!" she returned his smirk, her blue eyes seeming to twinkle at him.

With their small exchange finished, they started trotting along the path, as the roar seemed to come from ahead of them, as they crested the hill, they found smoke, fire, and a ruined watchtower no more than a couple of miles from them. A dark winged shape was bearing down on the tower, people barely visible as small forms amongst the flames and debris. Upon sighting the location, the pair speed up to a full run, Jorge having no trouble keeping up with Sofia despite his heavier armor. As the pair approached, they saw the dragon swoop down, burning a swath of the fields as it did so with a roar of fire. Only moments after, it was swooping through again, the pair able to hear screams and shouts. Arrows were being slung skyward, several connecting on the dragon's scales and ripping into it's flesh.

Not long after the, pair were among the ruins themselves, Sofia sending several firebolts ripping into the sky after the dragon. She hit with almost every single one, leaving burns on the dragon's scales.

"Jorge!? The hell are you doing here!?" Jorge recognized Max's voice, seeing him a couple of rubble sections away from him.

Jorge rushed between the chunks of rubble, reaching Max in mere moments. "'ello again Max. findin yerself another dragon I see!"

"Not by choice! Glad to see you again though! Who's the gal?" he was shaking like crazy, his eyes never leaving the dragon flying around them.

"Name's Sofia. Good lass. How can I help ye?"

"No clue! You two don't have a way to ground a dragon, do you?"

"I got one idea… Sofia! Can you hit that beast with the biggest lightning bolt you can manage!?" Jorge shouted that toward Sofia, who gave the pair a thumbs up.

A moment later an orb of lightning appeared between her hands as she looked to be trying to compress the orb. As moments passed, the orb grew more and more unstable, the lightning crackling and snapping louder and faster.

"Alright, get ready!" she hollered that before she shoved both her hands toward the approaching dragon. A crack loud enough to rattle the earth itself ripped through the area as a bolt of lighting shot between Sofia and the Dragon. The dragon immediately scrunched up as its body convulsed, lightly cackling across it's scales as it plummeted to the ground.

"NOW MEN! SHRED ITS WINGS BEFORE IT CAN TAKE FLIGHT!" A dark elf screamed that out, Jorge and Max both leaping from their rubble toward the dragon, along with the rest of the Whiterun guards.

The dragon stumbled onto it's hind legs and the clawed 'feet' in it's wings, visibly twitching and convulsing. That's when it let out an audible chortling laugh, to _human_ to be taken as anything else. "Pruzah unt jul, Nuz nii fen Ni oblaan zu'u!" the dragon shouted that at them, the sounds so structured and versed that there was no doubt it was speaking.

"Oh we _will_ end you dragon!" Max shouted that as he slowed, rearing back and throwing his spear for the dragon. It plunged into the dragon's chest, with half a dozen other spears.

Jorge, meanwhile, rushed forward, swinging his axe for the leading edge of the dragon's wing, feeling bone break and splinter from the strike. The dragon roared out in pain, swiping him with it's clawed wing. He was sent tumbling away by the strike, feeling the dragon's claws bite into his shoulder. Three razor slashes were left in his skin, Jorge barely paying any attention to the shallow wounds as he sprang to his feet.

The dragon let out another roar, spraying fire in an arc in front of it. Most of the guards that had thrown spears were still well clear of the gout of flame, but two were caught in it, both incinerated as the fire raced toward Jorge.

_Fuck!_ He nearly shouted that as he dropped to the ground a moment before the flame reached him. Heat scorched his back, but with it came a familiar tingling sensation across his body, making him grin. It was as though the flame was rejuvenating him, rather than scorching him. _So their flame is magic eh? That makes this fight easy!_

"Jorge!" he heard Sofia screaming somewhere behind him, prompting to spring to his feet.

"Well that was a might close for comfort! Let's kill this thing already!" he screamed that out as he rushed forward, brandishing his axe as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He wanted the dragon's focus on him. If he could keep it there, it would give the others the best possible chance of stopping the creature.

"Nas!? Dii Thu'um hdro Neh failaan wah krii aan jul!" the dragon reared back from him as it spoke again, both of it's eyes wide. Its hesitation was only for a moment before it lunged toward him, it's maw wide open and ready to snap him. He deftly stepped to the side, swinging in the same motion to plunge his axe into the dragon's snout. It jerked its head away from him, ripping his axe from his hand.

With the dragon completely focused on Jorge, Max had run wide around and gotten right up beside the dragon's neck, an ancient nord blade in his hands. He swung the blade up into the dragon's neck, just behind it's jaw. The scales at the impact point froze and shattered, the blade biting several inches into the dragon's neck, but it proved to not be a mortal blow, as the dragon twisted it's neck clear, then aimed the horn on it's head for Max. Max managed to bring his shield up in time to avoid being gored, but he was still tossed a dozen feet away. The impact did dislodge Jorge's axe, the weapon landing only a couple of feet from Max.

Jorge scrambled over to Max, scooping his axe up before grabbing Max and dragging him with him. A moment later, flame was roasting the ground they had been on, the dragon roaring once more. Max's blade was left on the ground, the blade seeming to explode as it clashed with the high heat of the flames. Nothing was left of it.

"Damn it!" Max cursed as the pair squared back off with the dragon, Max bracing his shield as he was now weaponless.

"Kruziik bladdro Nis oblaan zu'u jul! hi fen Ni oblaan zu'u!" the dragon chortled again, blood seeping from its many wounds, grinning despite them. The guards all had backed off from the beast, clearly too afraid to even approach it.

"I told you once before, we will kill you! No matter what you shout at us!" Max shouted that back at the dragon.

_Does he actually understand this thing!?_ Jorge barely spared Max a glance confused.

"Here, I can fight with out it!" Sofia ran up between them, tossing her arming sword to Max as she blasted the dragon with a firebolt, straight to it's face. It let out an annoyed roar as it reared back.

Both Jorge and Max took that as an opportunity, rushing forward. Jorge aimed a swing for the dragon's eye, his axe plunging down to its shaft in the beast, causing it to rear its head high into the air as it roared out in pain again.

The blade in Max's hand seemed to erupt into flames, a moment before he thrust it into the dragon up to the blade's crossguard. Flames spit back out to either side of him, out of the gash the blade created. The dragon's chest cavity swelled as fire poured from its maw, nothing like the fire it had been spitting out.

"Dovahkiin, Niiiiid!" the dragon screamed out once more before it slumped over, Max stepping away from the corpse with only a third of the blade in his hand. The rest was melted away, the blade still glowing red as he tossed it next to the dragon's corpse.

"I think we got it. I… I can't believe we just pulled that off! Max stuttered a little as he collapsed to his knees, only a few feet from the corpse.

"Aye, ye can say that again!" Jorge stepped up to the beast, yanking his axe from its head as he responded. As soon as he ripped the blade free, it began to glow from the inside, the scales and flesh seeming to start burning away.

"What in oblivion!?" Jorge leapt back at the sight, seeing the light produced by the corpse burning seem to congregate above it before audibly rushing toward Max, enveloping him in light as he stumbled away from it. The boy was utterly panicked as he stared wide eyed at the beast.

_Is he!? No, it can't be! There hasn't been a Dragonborn since the Septim line ended!_ The light eventually faded, leaving nothing but the bones of the dragon lying on the ground. Max was left staring wide eyed at the sight before him, Jorge striding over to him. The guards from Whiterun were all doing the same as well, all as stunned as the boy.

"Wh-What just happened!?" Max snapped that out as he scrambled back to his feet.

"Boy, do you feel any different?" a female dark elf among the group snapped that out as she strode up to him, looking him up and down and forcibly patting his body for any sign of an injury.

"Ye-yeah. A little." He was clearly shaken, barely reacting to the elf's rough searching.

"Max. Try to shout." Jorge pulled the elf away from the boy as he spoke. The elf tried to no avail to stop him.

"What?"

"Shout, twist yer essence into yer voice, make it into a Thu'um."

"O-okay…" he was quiet for several moments, stepping past Jorge and toward the bones. He visibly took a deep breath, looking toward the bones. "_Fus!_"

With his shout came a blast of energy, scattering many of the lighter bones, though it barely twitched the larger pieces of the skeleton. _He's definitely Dragonborn. Who would have thought one would appear alongside the dragons!?_

"Boy, yer a Dragonborn." Jorge spoke plainly and calmly, crossing his arms.

"That can't be! I'm just… a normal person! Nothing more! I sw-" Max's voice was cut off as a deep booming echo came from the mountains, a shout of the word '_Dovahkin_', reverberating across the expansive valley.

"Huh, seems like the grey beards up on their mountain have noticed you too. They're summoning you to meet them." One of the guards spoke up, gesturing at the largest mountain in the area, known as the Throat of the World. It was the largest mountain in all of Tamriel, so massive in fact, that it seemed to dominate the mountains around it.

"I can't be! Ther-"

"Look kid, ye couldn't shout before right?" Max shook his head in response to Jorge. "Ye can now. Legends have always told of the Dragonborn's innate ability to learn the Voice directly from dragons and absorb their souls. That's what ye just did."

"I for one don't care for this Nord nonsense. Let us just get back to Dragonsreach and report to the Jarl of the dragon's death. You and your friend should come too. I'm sure the Jarl will compensate you for your assistance." The elf spoke almost angrily, striding away when she finished.

"More gold? Sounds like more booze, eh Sofia!?"

"Sounds like a party to me!" Sofia, smirked with her hands on her hips, now finally beside them. Jorge chuckled at her response, roughly patting Max's back as the trio began to follow the dark elf

"Jorge, what's this blood on your shoulder from?" he felt Sofia try to wipe the slick fluid away, Jorge ripping his shoulder away from her.

"It's the dragon's I'm fine."

"You didn't have these scars before, did you?" she immediately slipped her hand back onto his exposed shoulder, touching the faint ridges left from where the dragon had swiped him.

"O' course I did. Ye just been too drunk or busy to notice em." He hoped she accepted that as an explanation before speeding up. He didn't want his secret known after all.


	9. Flight

**Alrighty, minor recap so yall dont have to go back. this story has been following three sets of characters as they traverse skyrim and their stories intertwine. Previously, we've seen the first dragon to be slain, learned that Max is the dragonborn, (seen something fishy with our jolly ol' nord by the name of Jorge) met sophia, and left M'rissi and the Ranger in the Whiterun tavern. hopefully thats enough to get yalls memories working!  
PS, i have two more chapters after this one written, i'm just working on editing them**

* * *

M'rissi groaned, not having any desire to get up, despite the fact that someone was trying to shake her awake. She still had a killer headache, and her only real relief had been her sleep. "Stoooop ittt. M'rrrrissi wants to sleep…" she moaned that out, trying to snuggle deeper into the blankets.

"I know M'rissi. but we need to get ready to move. The cities alarm bells are ringing," Ranger's calm and steady voice, despite it's gentle volume, still caused her head to pulse with each word. Now that she was actually paying attention to her hearing, she could faintly hear the tolling bells herself.

"Okay Rangerrr…" she grumbled that out, wanting to curse the world for forcing her to awaken so early. Of course, she wasn't even sure it was early. Nor was she sure when or how she ended up in a relatively comfortable bed. Relatively being to the ground she had been sleeping on. She couldn't place how she knew, but she simply knew the bed she was on was not of particularly high quality or comfort for that matter.

She forced herself to sit up, glancing around the dimly lit room through eyes she had barely even cracked open. Even so, the one candle burned at her vision, making her head hurt even worse. Ranger was visibly inspecting his sword just moments before he slid it away in its sheathe, his bow leaning on the wall and already strung. Her satchel, stuffed to the brim with the furs she had been wearing on the mountain, was lying against the wall, her own bow and quiver along side it. The small dagger she had been given, she didn't see.

"Where's M'rissi's dagger?" she blearily blurted that out, doing her best to stretch out her sore and stiff muscles.

"Under your pillow. You wouldn't let go of it last night and stuffed it there." Ranger responded very calmly as he scooped his bow off the wall.

"ohh… she doesn't remember…" her ears drooped as she did her best to recall anything from last night. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not. The last clear memory she had was the trio stopping for an afternoon meal while it was still bright out. She let out a soft pained growl, the act of trying to remember both painful for her head and irritating at the same time.

"Here." Ranger's voice drew her attention, seeing him holding her boots out to her, a subtle smile on his face.

She wasn't sure what kind of emotion he was trying to convey to her with that weak smile, staring into his eyes for several moments to try an discern what it was. A small grunt slipped out of her as she gave up in trying to understand his facial expression, accepting the boots and slipping them on.

"Stay here and finish getting your stuff together. I'll be back in a minute." He spoke just before slipping out of the room, not even giving her a chance to rebuke him.

Her ears fell back against her head as she watched the door, hugging her knees to her chest as fear started to creep into her heart. She had almost forgotten what fear felt like with him around, but with him leaving her so abruptly, all of the fear and anxiety she had been feeling before meeting him started to seep it's way back into her. It made her muscles quiver incessantly, her heart hammer in her chest, any small noise able to startle her. The situation was nerve wracking and immobilizing, her instinct to run and hide wanting to overpower her.

_M'rissi needs to trust Ranger. Ranger has never done anything but help her!_ She almost shouted that thought out in defiance with her forceful thought, even managing to perk herself up with it a little, but even that small upswing in her mood was not enough to calm her, slowly sinking back to where she had been. After what felt like a lifetime, she slipped off the bed and slipped her things on, instinctually slipping an arrow onto the string of her bow as she sat on the edge of the bed.

_Please come back soon… M'rissi really doesn't like being alone…_

* * *

William gingerly walked down the stairs onto the empty main floor of the tavern. The sole occupant of the tavern was it's owner, oddly catching up on cleaning tasks despite the ringing alarm bells. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't react at all to William approaching her.

"Excuse me, do you know what's going on?" Ranger spoke as calmly and softly as he could manage, but the woman still let out a small shriek, startled.

"By the divines! You nearly scared me to death! And some absurdity about a dragon being spotted nearby. Probably just a flight of fancy if ya ask me. That was a good while ago that they said something and the bells started ringing, where have you been?" she shook her head as she returned to her cleaning.

"Trying to get my companion to wake up. She's a pretty stubborn one."

"Hmph. Seen plenty of those around here. Anyway, if you're not buyin, git movin! I've got enough work to do without a bunch of idle gossip." She snarked that out, more focused on cleaning than him.

William shrugged, making his way to the door and stepping through. Despite being nearly mid day, there wasn't a soul in sight, likely all taking shelter or joining the guards in preparing a defense. It made the center of the city feel like a ghost town though. Before William could take more than ten paces outside, the alarm bells suddenly stopped ringing.

_Hmm. Odd. Usually ringers don't stop ringing until they are told to… unless they've been killed…_ Will moved to the well in the main plaza, leaning against it as he waited. A few moments after the bell stopped, a series of three rings rang across the area, the middle ring being a vastly higher pitch than the normal rings. If his guess was right, it was Whiterun's all clear signal. Which he himself had never heard but most of the larger cities with an alarm bell had something along those lines as a way to tell the citizens it was indeed safe again. Helgan's had been two shortened tolls of it's bell, followed by a single normal toll.

As he waited, more and more people started to appear around the plaza, all chattering back and forth, some with curious tones and little idea of what was going on, others with excited or nervous tones. With the jumble of noise, it was hard to pick out individual voices, but it seemed like no one had a clear idea of what had been going on, or what had caused it to be called off. It varied from person to person what that reason was, from a false alarm, to a drill of some sort for the guards, even as outlandish as some sort of Imperial or Stormcloak scheme. The one thing that seemed to crop up was mentioning's of the greybeards shouting from the mountain. He personally hadn't heard any kind of shout, though he admittedly had been pretty preoccupied with trying to get M'rissi to wake up. The frequency in which he was hearing it showed that it was the one thing that was solid between all of the conversations.

"Attention citizens! I bear a message from the Jarl!" a guard, fairly young one too as he had taken his helmet off, shouted over the small den the people in the area had created, stepping up on a small raised dias near the path leading up into the upper tier of the city. "The threat has now passed, the dragon attacking the western watchtower has been slain! The jarl will be holding a feast tomorrow night in celebration of this momentous event, all are welcome to attend! That is all!"

_Alright, if the Jarl is putting out an official announcement like that, I guess there was a dragon at the watchtower. I wonder who felled the beast?_ William shrugged, slinging his bow as he kicked off the well and headed back into the tavern. At least a dozen others were forcing their way in with him, William wishing there was another way in. once inside, he immediately headed up the stairs and to the room he had rented over night. He was about to step right in when he stopped himself.

_I shouldn't just burst in. Between the alarm bell and being left alone M'rissi is probably pretty jumpy right now._ he let out a small sigh before he gently rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Hey Fluffbutt. It's just me. I'm coming in there!" he called through the door after he knocked, just before opening it. As soon as he entered the doorframe, he was greeted by a pillow slamming into his face with enough force to nearly knock him off his feet. "Hey! What was that for!"

"That was for calling her 'fluffbutt' again!" M'rissi was glaring at him from the edge of the bed, her arms crossed. She was fully dressed now, her bow lying atop the jumbled blankets, an arrow beside it.

_I'm glad I knocked first, she might have shot me otherwise!_

"Too bad, _Fluffbutt._ Now come on. Coast is clear, and I want to make sure that head of yours is fully healed." He grabbed the pillow and tossed it back to the head of the bed.

Meanwhile, she growled at him, scooping her arrow off the bed and slipping it into it's quiver while slinging her own bow. "You're not taking M'rissi to another healer are you?"

"Well, yeah, I am. But trust me, she's a good person, won't hurt you."

_Plus, I left that friend of yours with her, so **maybe** we can actually find out a little more about you. And I can finally be rid of you._ He almost spoke that thought aloud, though it ended up confusing him. As much as he wanted to be done with helping her so he could go to Rorikstead as he had planned, he liked having her around. She at least made his days a little less quiet. At the same time, he wanted her to feel safe again, and able to live her life. He still had no idea why the Thalmor were even after her, and was absolutely certain that reuniting her with the Kajiit that sent him to find her in the first place would do nothing to change that. He found himself conflicted as to what the appropriate course of action would be then.

He let out a quiet sigh as the pair left the room, just trying to quell those thoughts for now. once he had more information, he could easily figure out what to do from there.

"_Rrrrangerr?_ Is something wrong?" M'rissi's voice slipped out from her, very soft and delicately. Her brow was furrowed as she stared at him, her ear's cocked in curiosity.

"What? No, nothing. Just thinking about some things." He gave her a small smile, hoping it helped to deflect her question, and hoping she didn't press for more as they slipped down the stairs.

"What sort of things?" her expression softened as her voice strengthened.

"Future plans. Nothing interesting." He shrugged as he slipped through the room, keeping his eyes off her in hopes the curtness and lack of attention put an end to her questions.

"What are Rrrangerr's plans?" she spoke as they left the tavern and stepped out into the bright sunlight. "Mrrraow! Go away sun! it's too early for you!" Ranger couldn't help but chuckle at her, as she was now glaring up at the sky in annoyance every few seconds or so, only to be forced to blink and look away as glaring at the light source made whatever about it that was annoying her annoy her even more.

"I don't think the sun cares about your thoughts on the matter M'rissi." William shot a playful smirk at her.

"Quiet you! She doesn't need your jokes too!" M'rissi snapped that back, glaring at him now, but she was still trying to blink the sunspots from her eyes, all intimidation that _could_ have been found in the action lost because of the blinking. Every time she blinked, her ears would twitch in annoyance.

"Whatever you say fluffbut." William sped up as he spoke, leading the way up into the city. It didn't take them long to move through the now bustling city, finding the temple of Kynareth after only a few minutes. Not that it was hard to find as it was along the main path to Dragonsreach, the main castle of the city. It was on the corner of one the main crossroads in the town, being the last portion of the path before more defenses and the castle grounds. In the center of the square before it was a massive dead tree, the tree split in two along the center. By the black charcoal lining the edges of the split, the tree had been struck by lightning.

He ignored the tree though as he led her into the temple, having seen it in such condition already. He hated seeing the tree like that, partly because he knew how the tree had been before, being as vibrant and full of life as the town usually was, and partly because it's condition somehow reminded him of Helgan.

Once inside, he looked for the head priestess, shocked that he didn't see her. There were several priests and priestesses in training though, only two occupied with healing townsfolk. One of the unoccupied ones he actually knew, making his way toward her where she was praying.

"Hilda!" he called out to her as he approached, having known her by name for half his life. She was a few years younger than himself but had been training to be a priest her whole life, much as he had been learning from his father.

"Oh, William? I didn't see you come in!" she leapt up the moment she heard his voice, a smile lighting up on her sharp Nordic features. Despite being younger than him, she was a good half a hand taller than him. She slipped her hood down as she spoke, her blonde curly hair not being contained by it anyway. "What brings you to the temple? And who's this… girl?" her eyes found M'rissi only moments after finding Ranger, curiously scanning up and down her.

"Her name's M'rissi. She got concussed a few days ago, think you could take a look at her?" William spoke calm and curtly with her, seeing her reminding him of all the times he spent playing with her as a kid. His father came by the temple quite often, as many rangers considered themselves as devote followers of Kyne.

"Of course! Come here M'rissi!" she beckoned the half-Kajiit to her as she moved to a padded bench nearby, gesturing for M'rissi to sit. M'rissi ducked closer to William instead, almost hiding behind him.

"It's alright M'ri, you can trust her." he gently pushed her away from him and toward the bench, M'rissi not fighting him.

She did move cautiously however, her ears pressed back against her skull, her tail curling between her legs before she sat down. The moment she did, she shriveled up, trying to appear as small as possible.

"It's alright miss. I swore an oath to Kynerath to never hurt any living thing. You needn't be afraid of me." She spoke as she raised her hands, golden light slipping forth between them and M'ri's head. "You definitely had a rough day. Your skull has some hairline fractures, and you brain has most certainly suffered some trauma. That said, someone did a very good job healing you. Give me a minute and you will feel like you never hit your head in the first place!" she spoke very cheerily as the light at her hands intensified for a moment.

M'rissi visibly shook with fear though, her eyes darting about the room, but she didn't try to shy away.

"Thanks Hilda. I do have a question for you too."

"Sure, what is it?"

"There was a Kajiit woman brought here a few days ago. No more than a week or so ago. She was in pretty rough shape. Do you know what happened to her?"

"Oh… some elves came and took her yesterday… said she was under arrest for crimes committed against the Dominion. We couldn't stop them from taking her I'm afraid." Her voice fell from it's normally cheery tones as she responded, the light falling away from her hands. "How do you feel now M'rissi?" her second statement though was still as bright and cheery as ever.

"Betterrr… tha-" M'ri's voice froze in her throat, the sound of the main doors crashing open drawing all of their attention.

Three Thalmor came striding in, the lead female mage being the same woman William had encountered just the other day at the start of this whole fiasco. Her arm was in a sling now as she pointed at M'rissi and William. "Those are the fugitives, seize them at once!" the two armored soldiers with her already had blades drawn, splitting up to approach them from different angles.

_Son of a bitch… they must of have found the other Kajiit and stuck around to see if I came looking for her… _William yanked his blade from his scabbard with that thought, M'rissi springing to her feet and drawing her bow. In an instant she had an arrow knocked and had placed herself between the Thalmor and Hilda, Ranger doing the same with M'rissi.

"There is no point in struggling. It will only lead to your deaths. I already have my men surrounding the building. There will be no escape for you." The Thalmor spoke with cold confidence, a smirk spread on her face.

"Let's test that then, shall we?" Ranger returned her small smirk, pulsing magicka into his hand as he held his hand straight up. There was a brilliant and blinding flash from his hand, accompanied by an ear splitting bang. The only one not effected by the spell was Ranger himself, everyone else staggering away and crying out. As soon as he released the spell, he rammed his blade back into his scabbard, spinning on the spot and grabbing M'rissi by the arm.

M'rissi didn't fight William as he dragged her toward the back of the temple, her bow lost from her grip as she yowled in pain. Which was not surprising for William as his stun spell had only been a couple of feet from her highly sensitive ears. She would likely be totally deaf for at least a few minutes because of it.

As he approached the back wall, William scooped a book off one of the many benches, chucking it at the glazed window behind the statue of Kynerath as hard as he could. The stained glass shattered from the impact, opening a sizable hole in the window. Without missing a beat, he forced M'rissi to look at the window before standing below it, his hands cupped for her to use as a step. Despite being off balance and probably as blind as she was deaf, she seemed to understand what he was suggesting, stepping on his cupped hands as he shoved her up. Even with her feet at William's shoulder height, she barely reached the window sill, William having to shove her even higher with every ounce of strength he could muster to get her through the window.

As soon as she was clear, he took two rushed steps toward the statue before leaping, using it's rump to give him a higher launch point and his momentum to give him enough purchase to leap toward the window sill. Even with that action, he barely made enough height to grab the windowsill.

"Damn it! Quit blubbering around like fools and stop him!" the female Thalmor was still blinking furiously, dazed and dizzy from the spell as she shouted at her comrades, both of whom were still picking themselves up off the floor. That was the last William saw though as he hauled himself up and through the window, nearly landing headfirst into the back garden for the temple.

"Let's go M'ri!" he shouted that almost directly into M'rissi's ear as soon as he was on his feet, dragging her from her crumpled state as well. His hand slipped down to grip hers as he dragged her staggering form after him.

Though the Thalmor hadn't been lying about there being more outside the temple, they clearly hadn't the numbers to fully surround the building. Instead, they had merely been blocking the entrances. Even so, at least four saw William and M'rissi fall out of the window and were already giving chase, forcing William to sprint into out of the small garden and into the city streets. This brought them into view of more Thalmor, who started shouting for the others as they moved to also pursue the pair.

_Damn it! Where the hell can we go!?_ He thought that as he dragged M'rissi through the relatively empty streets, aiming to take her down to the market district. At least there would have more crowds that they could try and disappear into. As much as he would want to, the main gate was probably already sealed by the Thalmor, which meant they would have to find another way out of the city.

_We could try over the wall…_ he immediately dismissed that thought, nearly running straight into another Thalmor group. They were blocking one of the two gates between the upper and lower city, nor did they move to give chase, remaining in position. Which meant the other gate was likely guarded as well.

_The only chance of dropping off the wall we had was in the lower city, where the walls are not as high off the ground. The walls in the upper city would be lethal falls…_ he audibly cursed about that, his mind racing as fast as his limbs as he whipped through the alleys and streets of the upper city. He could still hear the Thalmor clamoring after him, their shouts and armor echoing down the streets.

Ranger risked a glance behind him as he slowed a moment, mostly to see if the Thalmor could actually see them. M'rissi's eyes were red and tear streaked, but she was clearly no longer dazed, their hands still clasped together. There also wasn't any visible sign of the Thalmor, but he could most certainly still hear them.

Before he could come to any kind of decision as to what to do, M'rissi let out a terrified shriek, about a second before a massive tanned hand was grabbing the arm that was holding M'rissi, and dragging him into the side street he was passing. This inadvertently dragged M'rissi with him.

William immediately yanked his hunting dagger from the small of his back when he was grabbed, beginning to twist himself around to try and jab whoever had grabbed him or slash their wrist if they were armored. Their rushed voice stopped him though.

"Whoa there lad, follow me! No need to stick yer friends!" the speaker, and owner of the massive fist that had dragged them this way, was the same nord that had escaped from Helgan with Ranger, a broad grin on his face.

Ranger simply nodded to him, letting the man lead him away, a female nord taking up the rear. The whole time, Ranger never let go of M'rissi's hand. He could hear her gasping for breath, the girl likely being unable to keep up for much longer.

_Come on M'rissi, hang in there!_ He had that thought as he followed Jorge on yet another sprint, this one far more controlled and directed. He led them higher into the city, skirting around the square the temple was at and up to Jorvaskr, Ranger wanting to stop him, but deciding to simply trust the man. As they were arriving, the alarm bell was beginning to ring, several of the companions rushing out of the hall to greet them.

"Jorge, what in the divine is going on?" one of the companions, a female with a bow and war stripes, snapped that out, her voice slowing the group to a mere walk.

"Long story short, these two need a spot to lay low or a way outta town! No time to explain!" Jorge nearly shouted that back at her, the armored nord barely even breathing hard.

Ranger's heart was pounding in his ribcage, his breath coming in ragged gasps himself. M'rissi behind him let go of his hand as she fell to her knees, nearly collapsing right there. He let out a curse as he dropped to her side, still focusing on the nord woman before them to see how she responded.

"Do you know them?"

"Like Kin Aela."

"Alright, head into the city with the others, act normal. You two, follow me." The nord, Aela, beckoned Ranger to follow her, turning and striding into the grounds around Jorvaskr.

Jorge gestured at Ranger to follow her, giving him a simple head nod. Ranger simply nodded back before he slung M'rissi's arm over his shoulder and dragged her back to her feet. With in moments, they were at the wall of the cliff that the Companions forge sat upon, Aela pressing on one of the rocks. When she did, part of the cliff groaned and swung inward, revealing a small cave.

"Tell no one of this place's existence. Jorge is one of us, and we protect our own. There's a back exit that leads out of the city. May your feet be swift strangers."

"Thank you." Ranger spoke between ragged gasps before rushing into the cave, the entrance sealing behind them.

* * *

Jorge marched into the city, finding the main square with the temple and Gildergreen a buzz with activity. There were at least a dozen guards spread across the area, weapons drawn. The captain of the guard was speaking with a trio of Thalmor, one armored soldier, a female mage in a sling and a male mage. He quickly and purposefully strode in their direction, one hand resting on his axe.

"Oy, what's goin on 'ere and how can we help?" Jorge spoke as soon as he was close enough to be relatively polite about it.

"Who are these… vermin?" the female elf snarled that out at Jorge, shooting a cold glare his way.

"Companions. Renowned fighters. And there are a pair of fugitives these elves are hunting in the city. We've locked down the upper city, and know they are somewhere in it. I'd be more than willing the compensate the companions for your services." The captain of the guard spoke calmly and clearly. After felling the dragon, Irileth, the Jarl, and the court wizard had all left to inspect the remains. Which made the captain the highest order of law in their absence.

"Of course! I'll send Sophia to round up the rest, just hand us some marching orders." Jorge grinned as he spoke, happy that he could be getting more coin for booze out of this whole affair, and knowing for a fact that the 'fugitives' in question were Ranger and his odd friend. Those 'fugitives' were also long gone by now.

"We don't need the help of your rabid dogs! Nor do we need your guards, just stay out of our way!" the female Thalmor snapped that out, snarling at the guard captain. Something clearly had her pissed off, and if Jorge had to guess, that something was his little pal.

"Calm yourself Eleria. The willing help of others is never a burden to any operation. In any event…" the second male mage spoke this time, raising his hand and casting some sort of spell. It's purple light seemed to dance and shift, but was slowly dimming. He turned on the spot, the light shifting and changing until he seemed to be satisfied with something. "Besides, it seems our prey is no longer in the city. Seems this boy she's recruited is a fair bit craftier than we expected."

"Are you positive Ulquarion?"

"Quite."

"Fine. Cease your damned bells. Sergeant, go retrieve the men, send an advanced party after them. Bring Arissa. She can use the tracking spell. If they capture the girl, bring her to me at once. Feel free to kill the boy." Eleria spoke calmly yet vehemently at her underling, the sergeant rushing off into the city, the two mages following at a calmer pace.

"Well, I guess the city doesn't need your services companion…"

"Well damn. I was lookin forward to some more drinkin money!" Jorge snarked that out, his grin fading.

"Hah, you and me both!" the captain clapped Jorge's shoulder as he left, marching off toward the main keep.

_Well Ranger, can't really help you now… Good luck to ye…_


	10. Kyne's Curse

**well... things just got... _interesting..._**

* * *

M'rissi groaned as she rubbed her aching feet, her boots sitting on the ground beside her. they had been traveling nigh non-stop for two days now, and it was most certainly taking it's toll on her. She was seated on a fallen tree in the thick pine forests to the south east of Whiterun, skirting the northern face of the Throat of the World. Even seated amongst the trees, the massive mountain swamped her sight.

She wasn't really sure how far from Whiterun they were either, as the pair had been moving through the woods and over the country for the past two days instead of using roads. Ranger had explained to her that he could navigate just fine off the roads, and though it would be slower going, it would make them harder to track over all. The destination Ranger told her they had was a region of Skyrim known as the Rift. It was the south eastern most province of Skyrim, and the only hold to be entirely controlled by the Stromcloak rebellion. Eastmarch, though mostly controlled by the Stormcloaks, was largely open swamp land and geyser fields, making it both hard terrain to move on and impossible to hide in.

As for why they were heading to Stormcloak territory, the Stormcloaks entire rebellion was due to laws adopted to sate the Aldmeri dominion. As such, the Thalmor were actively hunted by the Stormcloaks, which would make the Thalmor's attempts to hunt down Ranger and M'rissi much harder.

Of course, none of that had she understood herself, simply being what Ranger had explained to her over the past two days.

"Put your boots back on M'rissi." Ranger spoke very softly to her, but even so, she jumped at the sound of his voice.

"But her feet hurt! She can't keep walking all day and night like this!" she really didn't mean to come off as whiney toward him, but she couldn't help it at this point. Whatever life she lived before this, it was most certainly not one of travel. At this point, she sincerely felt like she had barely any ability to move left in her.

She could barely see Ranger's face under his hood as he let out a soft sigh, a gentle frown on his lips. "I know M'ri. But we're only a couple miles from the border. With luck, we'll run into a Stormcloak picket line or scouts. Then we can rest, okay?" he crouched in front of her as he spoke, placing a hand on her knee and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Also, I promise, as soon as we're safe, I'll catch you some fresh fish. How's that sound M'ri?"

"Don't try to butter her up with fishies! Unless… you actually do get her fishies…" she muttered the second part of her little statement, looking to her boots as he ears pressed against her head.

"It's a promise M'ri. Now come on, we need to keep moving." His voice caught her attention again, seeing his soft smile as he stood.

She took a deep breath before she responded to him. "Okay Ranger…" her feet protested as she gingerly slipped her boots back on, the action far more painful than it had any right to be, enough that she let out a soft, pained mew. Regardless of it, she forced herself back to her feet, nodding to Ranger.

A moment later the pair were moving again, M'rissi loathing every step. Her body ached in more places than she could count, even in spots she could have never attributed to walking. After only a few minutes though, she began to notice that the forest around them had become absolutely silent. It was confusing to her as their entire journey so far seemed to be heralded by every animal in the forest. The silence was so odd to her that it immediately put her on edge. Almost on cue, she began to hear a series of gentle clinks.

"R-RRangerr… She hears something." She spoke as softly as she dared, in hopes he heard her quiet whisper. By the fact he stopped before her said he had.

"I hear it too. Sounds like armor plates rubbing together. Does it sound like it's behind us to you too?" Ranger looked to her as he spoke.

"Y-Yes." She stuttered that back to him. Now that he said what it sounded like to him, she could hear the sound more clearly. And it did indeed sound like metal grating and clinking against metal. She tentatively turned around, scanning the dense trees for any sign of motion.

The sound grew louder with each passing moment, growing in crescendo as the source grew closer. As the volume went up, so to did her ability to pick out separate gaits in the armor, sounding like there was at least a dozen individuals still coming closer. That's when she finally spotted movement, seeing the golden armor of the elves as a Thalmor soldier navigated through the trees.

"T'almor!" she nearly panicked upon seeing the soldier, darting up against Ranger as her heart leapt in her throat.

"Down, now!" he hissed into her ear as he forced her to the ground, nearly dropping on top of her. a moment later, he was tossing his cloak over the pair and casting it's enchantment. "How in the divine did they find us so easily!" he hissed that to himself, M'rissi only hearing it because of how close she was to3 him now.

Though she couldn't see, she could easily hear the clattering steps of the armored soldiers as they began shouting between each other. She was honestly too scared to pay any attention to what they were saying, shivering in fear despite the aching heat across her body, amplified by being trapped under Ranger's cloak with him.

"It's okay M'ri… so long as my magicka holds, they will not find us under here." Ranger's whispered voice was barely audible to her. Despite how much she wanted to trust his words, they did absolutely nothing to calm her as minutes dragged by, the clatter of armor and shouts only growing closer.

"How long will it hold?" she tentatively whispered that back, trying her best to mimic his volume level. The sound of the soldiers was unbearable loud now, there being no way they were more than a dozen yards from them at this point.

"A bit longer." His voice was short and curt, a slight downward shift in his tone showing his own concern. The footsteps were beginning to get terrifyingly close, M'rissi's heart hammering even faster.

"Everyone halt!" a female voice too pitched and harsh to be the average human voice, rang out, the footsteps falling to a stop. "Get in line and move slowly! They are within feet of us men!"

_How could they know that!? M'rissi most definitely spotted them first, and Ranger has been hiding M'rissi in his cloak since! They can't know where M'rissi is!_ She had that panicked thought as she let out a terrified whimper, snuggling closer to Ranger.

"M'ri, stop, the more you move, the more likely they will see through the enchantment!" Ranger hissed that at her, his body not quivering even a hair's breadth. Meanwhile, the foot falls had resumed, much slower and more deliberate. With each quiet chink of metal and chain, the Thalmor drew closer and closer to them, M'rissi hardly even breathing anymore.

"M'ri… Run…." She heard Ranger's quiet whisper, gulping as she realized what that meant.

A moment later, the cloak covering them was thrown off, M'rissi blinded by the sudden light flooding her eyes after being under the cloak for several minutes. Another stun spell went off a moment later, further away from her than the last by a fair margin. It still deafened her though. She scrabbled to her feet as Ranger began sprinting into the trees, ripping after him as fast as she could manage.

She could only faintly hear the disoriented shouting of the elves behind her as she thundered through the trees. As effective as the stun spell had been inside the temple, it was clear by how quickly they were directing themselves after the pair that its effects were severely limited outside, leaving them in another desperate run for their lives. She didn't dare look behind her, knowing it would slow her down

"Myaahh!" she yelped as a black shaft ripped past her, thudding sharply into a tree she was darting around. If they hadn't been running through a dense forest and dodging trees, the small bolt would have been lodged in her back. Several more whipped by only moments later, some thudding into other trees, others skipping off the ground and disappearing into the under brush.

"Be careful not to kill the Kajiit! I can't bring back the dead!" the same female voice that had been shouting orders earlier rang through the trees behind M'rissi. Moments later a second volley of bolts ripped by, one clipping her leg.

The sudden pain erupting on her thigh was near immediately multiplied as that foot hit the ground, sending M'rissi tumbling as cried out from the agony. She clutched at the wound as she howled, feeling blood leaking between her fingers.

"M'rissi!" Ranger's panicked shout claimed her attention as the boy skidded beside her, loosing an arrow from his bow as he stopped. "We need to keep running!" he shouted as he grabbed her arm to tug her to her feet. She never made it up though, as another black bolt volley ripped by, one of the bolts striking Ranger almost in the center of his chest. The force of the blow knocked him to the ground.

"Ranger!" she scrabbled toward him, ignoring the pain in her leg as she watched him clutch the shaft of the crossbow bolt.

"Run M'ri…" he barely managed to croak that out before he coughed several times, blood spattering from his mouth.

_No! No no no no no! M'rissi can't leave Ranger! Ranger's done so much for M'rissi!_ She hooked her arms under his armpits, attempting to haul him with her. She didn't even manage a single step, both of their weight being far too much for her even if her leg was uninjured. Another yelp was pryed from her mouth as she dropped onto her rump, Ranger on top of her.

"M'rissi! Leave me!" He coughed several times as she continued to try and drag him. "I'm not going to s-survive! Save yourself!" every time he spoke, he coughed up even more blood. The front of his vest and mouth was soaked in the bright red liquid.

"No! M'rissi will not leave you! You never left M'rissi!" she snapped that right back, continuing to struggle under Ranger's weight.

"M'r- Sto-ss" Whatever he was trying to say kept being interrupted by his coughing fits, his voice barely more than a wheezy whisper. "Stop…" one of his hands came off the bolt, grabbing her hand and attempting to pry her grip from her. "Go…. Now!"

M'rissi glanced up from him as she slipped again, looking for their pursuers to find them only a few dozen feet away now. In moments, she would be captured again, and though she had no clue why they were hunting her, every instinct of her's screamed at her to run. Despite that, she desperately wanted to stay, to try and fight the elves off.

_M'rissi wants to save Ran- no, M'rissi needs to save Ranger! But how?_ Tears stung her eyes as the crushing reality of the situation finally broke through the panicked thoughts of her mind, the girl knowing that Ranger was done for no matter what she did. He had left a trail of red droplets and blood across the short distance she had managed to drag him, even his vest now soaked in blood around the crossbow bolt. As badly as she wanted to, she had no possible way of saving him.

"M'rissi's sorry William." she blurted out the name Ranger's friend had called him before she let go of him, scrambling to her feet and half running, half limping off into the trees.

* * *

Ranger's chest seared with pain, unable to even draw a breath. The pain was so intense already that his chest thudding to the ground as M'rissi released him was barely noticeable. _Good M'rissi. Now just run. The Stormcloak frontlines are supposed to be only be a couple miles further. I wouldn't be surprised if they have sentries even this far out. If she can just make it to them… she'll have a chance._

He barely managed to wretch his eyes open, looking in the direction the Thalmor were advancing from. In mere moments, the armored soldiers would be reaching him, and likely catching M'rissi far before she reached the Stormcloaks. _I have to slow them down._

M'rissi had barely dragged him at all, his bow just barely within his grasp as he forced himself to sit up. This made his entire chest feel like it was lit on fire, the intensity of the pain causing his vision to swim as his eyes blurred in and out of focus. As soon as he had his bow in hand, he pulled an arrow from his hip, knocked it, and drew the string. At least he tried to. His muscles felt weaker than a childs, barely able to bring the bow to even half draw.

_It will have to do…_ he coughed up even more blood, it spattering onto his hand and the string of the bow, the liquid slipping between his fingers and the string. This made it all the harder to maintain his grip as the string became slick, almost slipping free of his grip before he could get his aim. The moment he felt his arrow would hit one of the armored soldiers, he let the string slip out, the bow thrumming as the arrow leapt away. At half draw, the arrow was almost painfully slow, his rushed shot merely glancing off the chest armor of the elf he aimed for.

He wanted to curse at the bad shot, but he couldn't even draw the breath to. His hand shook and rattled as he reached for another arrow, having to look at what he was doing as his limbs had become painfully numb. Before he could grip one of the shafts, another black bolt slammed into his chest, the pain there exploding to the point that he nearly blacked out. The force of the bolt pounding him to the ground sent his bow bouncing from his grip.

_No… Not like this… M'rissi… they are going to catch M'rissi…_ he coughed again as he tried to draw breath, his muscles no longer obeying him as he stared up at the pine forest's canopy. He could feel fresh blood gurgling from his lips as his body tried to cough and breath at the same time to no avail.

_I can't… I can't die now… I need to fight!_ As much as his mind screamed in protest, there was nothing he could do. Even the pain was fading from his mind, his vision dimming to the point that all he could see was the sun high in the sky, brightly piercing through the trees.

_So you want the power to save that… creature?_

A voice penetrated his mind as the light of the sun faded away, leaving him in complete darkness. The voice itself was familiar to him, the same wrathful voice he had heard up on the mountain what felt like ages ago now. Not that it was relevant to him. He knew he was dead. There was nothing he could do to change that.

_"Of course I want to save M'rissi! I made her a promise!"_ All of the moments he had spent with the half-kajiit were ripping through his mind. Despite the pain he felt after his father had died before him, of watching his home burned to ash, his memories of her were almost happy. Or at least, happy was the best word he could pin on them. She certainly did nothing to make his life feel even remotely normal, but in the short time he had spent with her, he felt alive, a stark contrast to how he felt after Helgan. That despite all that had happened, he still had a purpose in protecting her.

_Then embrace the beast within you. Slay the one who dealt the mortal blow, and you can continue to fight on. A true wolf's blood runs in your veins. Let it run as wild as it was meant to be. You will have the more than enough power to protect this… **abomination** you seem so fond of._

He had no clue what the voice was speaking of, none of it making any sense to him. But the thought of a chance to save M'rissi? He couldn't pass that chance up. _"How?"_

_Focus on your purpose. Don't think of your life. Don't think of your death. It will come to you. But be warned, there is a price you will pay for this, nor will it be one you will like._

_Well, what other choice do I have?_ With that thought, he focused all of his mind on protecting M'rissi, his memories of her seeming to act as a fuel for that focus. It was almost like channeling magicka for a spell but it felt different in it's own way. Like a spark had been lit, his senses began to come back to him, slowly at first, but quickly rising above what they once were. Every sound, every creak of the grass, clink of armor, breath from a lung, became unbearably clear. He shambled to his four feet, his eyes snapping open as a growl rumbled from within his chest. The world was clearer than he could ever remember seeing it, his eyes seeking out one of the crossbow armed Thalmor that was scampering back from him, confused terror on the elf's face.

* * *

Arissa grinned as she watched the human collapse from the second bolt to strike his chest. He had put in a valiant effort to be sure, but a mere boy had never been a credible threat to her troops. And with the target wounded as she was, it would be a matter of minutes before the force caught her.

"Bowmen, make sure our friend is truly finished with his antics. Everyone else, after the girl! I cannot stress how much more important her life is than yours! Do. Not. Kill. Her." she confidently shouted that as she slowed to a walk, not keen on running anymore. She was a mage after all. All of this physical exertion was beneath her.

_If I successfully capture this creature, maybe I can get out of these pathetic frontline units! Do something truly worthwhile for the Dominion!_ She gleefully smiled as she approached the dying human herself, innately curious about him. He had, after all, managed to give Eleria the slip in Whiterun. And had even been the same human to injure her some week or so ago. Those actions alone were worthy of noting. Add the way he and the creature had appeared from what had been a boulder mere moments before was also a curiosity to Arissa. She had seen invisibility spells and potions before, but this was nothing like it. There had been no shimmer, no bending of light. It was though his very cloak had formed the rock they sprang from. It had even blocked and fooled her sense life spell she had been using, and distorted the tracking spell Eleria had given her.

The body of the human gurgled and sputtered out more blood as she approached, staying behind her crossbowmen as they approached the soon to be corpse, weapons relaxed. As much as she wanted to scold them for a lack of discipline in their now relaxed approach, it was obvious they needn't have any concern of the human. He truly had only moments left. Even as she thought it, his body ceased to convulse, the swirling energy should see around him due to her sense life spell fading away.

_Well, no more than another bug stomped beneath my boot now._ she smirked as she sped up, excited to inspect the body closer. She froze though as the energy that had faded a moment before blindingly burst forth from the corpse. In that moment, the corpse began to change, his clothing and weapons fading away like those of a wraith's, his skin and bones being molded into the shape of a beast as fur sprouted across his body. In less than a breath, the once human body had twisted into the form of a frighteningly large wolf, still lying on the forest floor.

_What in the eight divines!?_ She took a step back as she watched the wolf come to it's feet, it's lowered head almost even with her breasts.

The beast now before them was absolutely massive. Its hackles rose as a rumbling growl ripped from it. It's eyes snapped open with that growl, glowing with an inner green light. Despite the bestial appearance, the eyes were still human. They then became narrow slits, as a wolf's should be.

Arissa let out a terrified scream, her instincts overriding her mind upon seeing the creature, literally falling over as she tried to scramble away from it without taking her eyes from it, her men in a similar state.

In that moment, the creature thundered forward with a violent and incredible burst of speed, upon one of the crossbowmen in a blink of an eye. Blood showered the forest around the man as the wolf's jaws clamped on his throat and ripped the flesh clean from his body, only his spine holding his head attached as he was driven to the forest floor by the beasts weight. In a fraction of the time it had taken for the beast to rip the man's throat out, it leapt toward the next man. That archer managed to get his arm between the wolf and his throat, the wolf's fangs sinking through the elven steel as though it were cloth. The wolf's momentum caused it to tumble over the bowmen, the wolf somersaulting and landing on it's paws as it jerked the man over it with incredible speed and ferocity, releasing it's bite to fling the man dozens of yards away as though the entire motion had been intentional. The man was slammed into a tree with a resounding crack, nearly folded around the pine tree before dropping to the forest as a limp corpse.

One of her two remaining bowman managed to loose a bolt at the creature, but the moment the bolt began to leave the crossbow, the creature was moving. Dirt and pine needles were blasted into the air as the bolt whipped through where the beast had been, a moment before the beast was pouncing not on the bowman who loosed the bolt, but the one who hadn't. it was as if the beast not only knew the other bowman had an arrow still ready, but understood to take him down first as he was the bigger threat. It showed the beast as having true intelligence, and to not be fighting off instincts.

_I must kill this thing now! before it kills me!_ She prepped a lightning bolt spell, knowing nothing could out run the crack of lightning. The moment she began compressing the magicka into the spell, the beasts eyes snapped to her as though it could sense the charging magic. It completely ignored the last bowmen as it barreled toward her, crossing the several yards in only two strides as she rushed to fire the spell at it. It bit down on her extended arm a moment before she cast the spell, aiming it toward her surviving bowmen for the lighting to rip to the man, instantly killing him.

Arrissa let out a bloodcurdling scream as she felt the bones of her forearm fracture and snap into splinters, blood running down her arm from near severed limb. The beast jerked it's head into the air with enough speed and force that the splinter fragments of her arm ripped clean off. She nearly blacked out from pain along as she clutched the now stump as it furiously poured her blood to the ground in violent spurts.

"My arm!" screamed as she closed her eyes to the pain, just trying to block it out. Even if she wanted to attempt to use magic to stop the bleeding, she couldn't focus her mind on anything now.

_How!? How can this be happening!? That human was dead! I saw it! His spirit was gone!_ She wrenched her eyes open to search for the creature, her vision so blurry she could barely make out the trees in her immediate vicinity. The wolf though, was mere inches from her face, letting out a long slow breath straight into her face. Her heart seemed to freeze in that moment, knowing she was only a moment from it ending her life.

The wolf merely glared at her for several moments though, as if it was waiting for her to attack or run, or do anything at all. After several long moments, it looked down at the blood still spurting from her severed arm, sniffing it once before snorting at her. then it turned and sprinted away, toward where her men had gone to chase the Kajiit earlier.

Arissa let out a pained and shaky breath, closing her eyes as she tried to breath for a moment. She felt incredibly light headed, her thoughts murky and indiscernible. She forced herself to her feet, turning to try and run away. The moment she stood, her head became painfully fuzzy, staggering only a couple of steps away before she collapsed to the ground.


End file.
